


Visions and Virtues

by nobodys_pearl



Series: New Heroes [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A lot of focus on Adrien and his family, Cuz angst man, F/M, Fox Miraculous, Gen, I've missed this story so much, Male-Female Friendship, New Love Square, Peacock Miraculous, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tomato Child, aaaanndd we're back, and goodness will it be complicated, get ready guys cuz it'll be quite a ride, tomatofox
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-16 14:59:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobodys_pearl/pseuds/nobodys_pearl
Summary: When Nathanael is attacked by an akuma and loses the peacock miraculous on his way to Master Fu, a new hero is born. But how can Lila win the trust of Ladybug, Chat Noir and Renard when she wasn't meant to have the miraculous in the first place? And how can she trust Renard when she has visions of him betraying them for Hawkmoth?Tensions rise as the heroes of Paris work together to do what they never imagined - save Hawkmoth. But what choice do they have when saving the villain means saving Paris?





	1. If Those I Loved Were Lost

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the sequel to Illusions and Illustrations! 
> 
> Side note: In Illusions and Illustrations all of the chapter titles were paintings, and now in Visions and Virtues the chapter titles will be the titles of poems :D

“Nathanael, how could you?” Adrien yelled, eyes wide in shock.

“You’re the one who made me do this!” Nathanael shot back, refusing to look at Adrien.

“I didn’t think you would betray me like this!” Adrien said, furiously trying to fight back, but Nathanael knew that he was getting tired.

“I never thought that I could beat you.” Nathanael confessed, blocking Adrien’s attack. “I’m sorry.” He said, then he went for the final blow. It was over.

He watched as Adrien lay on the ground, vacant eyes looking upward. He was still in shock. Then Nathanael looked at the TV and saw the words “Game Over, Player Two Wins” flash on the screen.

“Um, are you okay?” Nathanael asked, giving Adrien a once over. He was still flopped on the ground. He wasn’t taking the loss well.

“You told me you’ve never played this game.” Adrien said, still looking at his bedroom ceiling.

“I haven’t.” Nathanael admitted with a shrug.

Adrien groaned and lifted himself back up into a sitting position. “Life isn’t fair.” He said with a pout.

Nathanael laughed and punched his friend lightly on the arm. “I guess Marinette’s Ladybug Luck has rubbed off on me.” He offered.

“If only I wasn’t a black cat.” Adrien said with a dramatic sigh. Then he put his controller down and smiled. “That was fun though. With enough practice, maybe one day you’ll even beat Marinette.”

“Oh, I highly doubt that.” Nathanael said with a laugh. “She’s in a league of her own.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Adrien said with a smile, looking thoughtfully out of the window.

“How are you and Marinette doing, anyway?” Nathanael asked, gently broaching the topic. It had been two months since they took down Volpina, two months since Lila left, and two months since Ladybug and Chat Noir found out each other’s civilian identities.

“We’re great.” Adrien admitted, and Nathanael could see the beginning of blush forming on his cheeks. “Obviously there’s been a lot to adjust to, but at the same time not much has changed.”

Nathanael blew a lock of hair out of his face. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

Adrien looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, it’s obvious that you two are super into each other, so why aren’t you guys, like, a _thing_ yet?”

“A thing?” Adrien asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Let me live through your guy’s romance!” Nathanael declared, flopping down on the floor and waving his arms in exasperation.

Adrien laughed and nudged him with his foot. “We want to take things slow, get to know each other for everything we are _first_ , you know?”

“Okay, I will admit, that _is_ pretty adorable.” Nathanael said, still lying down. “But that’s also so boring.” He groaned. “If you guys like each other, why not _do_ something about it?” Then he sighed. “You never know what the future holds.”

Adrien gave Nathanael a sympathetic look and grabbed his arm to help Nathanael sit back up. “You miss Lila.” He stated.

“Yeah.” Nathanael said quietly, looking at one of the abandoned controllers. Sure, they tried to talk at least once a day, but it wasn’t the same. “It’d just be nice to have her here, you know?”

“I get it.” Adrien said, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Isn’t she coming back to Paris soon though?”

Nathanael brightened up. “Yeah, she said she should be back sometime this week.”

“That’s great!” Adrien said with a smile. “You guys have to run up to each other in slow motion as you call out each other’s names. Nathanael! Lila! Nathanael! Lila!” He acted out, moving his arms.

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smiled. “You’re so dramatic.”

“Me-ouch. Who knew my number one fan could be so catty?” Adrien teased.

Nathanael groaned and covered his face. “Your puns take years off of my life.”

“Good thing I’ve got eight to spare.” Adrien replied with a wink.

“If Lila wasn’t coming back this week I’d consider moving to like, Tibet or something.” Nathanael said with a laugh.

“I heard that Tibet is lovely in the – wait.” Adrien paused midsentence, face scrunched up in thought.

“What is it?” Nathanael asked, sitting up straighter as he watched Adrien think.

“There’s something I need to show you.” He said seriously, standing. He reached out his hand to help Nathanael up. “Follow me.”

 

 

“So Father is taking a call upstairs in his office and Nathalie had to drop off some papers for him, so if we’re quiet –” Adrien said, walking quickly down the stairs with Nathanael only a few paces behind him.

Adrien led him to one of his father’s rooms. “It’s in here.” He said, opening the door.

They walked in and Nathanael stopped when he saw the painting on the wall. The focus of the painting was a beautiful woman who looked a lot like Adrien. He could tell right away that it was based off of the work of Gustav Klimt, particularly his masterpiece _Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer_ , which was done during his Golden Phase. Nathanael couldn’t help but stare at it in awe.

“Yeah, that’s my mom.” Adrien said softly, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the painting. Nathanael could see the warmth in his eyes. The warmth, and the loneliness. Then Adrien regained his focus and walked up to the painting.

“Plagg?” He asked.

“Cheese? I mean, yes?” Plagg said, rubbing his eyes as he floated out of Adrien’s shirt pocket.

“Can you do what you did last time? You know, with the safe?”

Plagg groaned and did a lazy loop in the air. “But I’m tired.”

“Come on, Plagg.” Yishu said, coming out from Adrien’s pocket as well. They liked to cuddle together whenever Nathanael and Adrien hung out. “He _did_ ask nicely.”

“I didn’t hear a please.” Plagg pointed out.

Adrien rolled his eyes and smiled. “Please?”

Yishu looked at Plagg expectantly and he let out a dramatic sigh. “Okaaayy. I don’t know why you didn’t ask Yishu though, _she’s_ the pushover.”

“Oh, _I_ am the pushover? Shall I tell these two about the time in 1588 when you –”

“I’m moving, I’m moving.” Plagg said, sticking out his tongue. “The betrayal stings though.”

“I’ll make it up to you by telling you where Adrien hides the camembert.” Yishu said.

Plagg brightened up at that and phased through the painting.

“Hey!” Adrien protested. Yishu giggled.

“I’ll only tell him about the smaller stash.” Yishu promised, giving him a wink.

“How did you know I have more than –?” Adrien began to ask. Then he turned to face Nathanael. “Your kwami is a bad influence on my kwami.”

“I was just about to say the same thing.” Nathanael replied, hiding a smile behind his hand.

Adrien shook his head in disbelief and swung the painting out to reveal a hidden safe.

“Woah.” Nathanael said.

Then the lock clicked and the safe opened, Plagg sitting there with a smug grin on his face.

“Thanks, Plagg.” Adrien said. Plagg hummed with pride.

“This is so cool.” Nathanael said, coming to stand next to Adrien to get a closer look.

Adrien looked over his shoulder and then back at the safe. “I found this a few months ago, the same day as the Volpina thing – well, the _first_ Volpina thing.” Adrien said, looking at Nathanael sheepishly. He wasn’t bothered though, Volpina was in the past, and he was determined to make sure that she stayed there.

“There was a book in here that was about all of the miraculous holders, but Marinette told me recently that Tikki asked her to take it, and that she showed it to Master Fu.” Adrien explained. “It doesn’t seem like Father has noticed that it’s gone yet, though. But at the same time I never really know what’s going on with him.” Adrien admitted, slumping his shoulders a little. Nathanael put a hand on his shoulder.

“And here’s a ticket to Tibet, which is what reminded me that I wanted to show you this.” Adrien said, pointing out the ticket. “I’m going to show Marinette too, but it’s hard to convince Father to let me have people over. He only let _you_ come over because your mom works for him.” Adrien said, looking away. Then he looked at Nathanael. “I’m really happy that you can come over.”

Nathanael smiled. “Me too.” Then Nathanael looked back at the safe, eyes scanning the contents. He saw the ticket, a picture of Adrien’s mother, a few scrolls, some books, and then his eyes fell on some sort of brooch.

“What’s this?” Nathanael asked, reaching out to pick it up. It was made up of different shades of blue, and looked like the fanned out feathers of a peacock.

“I wasn’t sure. That’s what I wanted to get your opinion on. I asked Plagg but he doesn’t seem to know.”

“Yishu?” Nathanael asked, looking at his kwami. He watched as she scrunched up her face in thought.

“I cannot, I know, but I just –” She struggled to put a sentence together. Then recognition dawned on her face. “It’s a miraculous.”

“It’s a miraculous?!” Adrien and Nathanael said at the same time.

“But there’s some powerful magic on it.” Yishu added. “It is like it does not want anyone to remember it. If it was not for my heightened perception, I do not know if I would have recognized it at all.”

“Weird.” Nathanael said softly, looking back at the miraculous in his hands. He could feel his own miraculous grow warm from under his shirt. Then he remembered a story that Master Fu told him when he went to him for advice about Volpina.

“Master Fu told me that there used to be a peacock miraculous holder in Paris only a few years back.” Nathanael said.

“Really? I don’t remember that.” Adrien said, furrowing his brow.

“Nobody does.” Nathanael said. “Ten years ago, the peacock miraculous holder – Plume – disappeared, and for some reason everyone forgot about her. Everyone except for Master Fu.”

“How is that possible?” Adrien asked, looking at the miraculous with wide eyes.

“I don’t know, but that wasn’t all Master Fu told me.” Nathanael said, looking up at Adrien. “Apparently Hawkmoth and Plume were _partners_.”

Adrien recoiled. “So Plume was a villain?”

“No, Hawkmoth was a _hero_.”

Nathanael watched as Adrien’s mouth formed a shocked ‘o’. “That can’t be right. I mean, how, why –?”

“Ten years ago something happened,” Nathanael explained. “Plume and Hawkmoth – or, Papillon Blanc, at the time – messed up, and Paris turned against them.” He ran a hand through his hair. “That night something inside of him snapped. One of his butterflies got all akumatized and went _inside_ of him, like with what happened to Lila.”

Adrien looked horrified. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.” Nathanael said with a sigh. “I meant to tell you guys about this sooner, but it just, slipped my mind.” He confessed, looking down at the miraculous in his hand. Then he looked up at Adrien. “The point is, Hawkmoth is just as much of a victim as the people he akumatizes.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes and looked away. “It’s hard for me to believe that. The things that he’s put people through –”

“You’re right.” Nathanael said. “What I mean to say is that _Papillon Blanc_ is in there, trapped by the akuma. He _must_ be, and we can save him.”

“You said it’s been ten years?” Adrien asked, looking at the picture of his mom.

“Yeah.”

“That’s a long time, I don’t know if there’s anyone left in there to save, Nathanael.” Adrien admitted. Then he looked back at his friend. “But it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t try.”

Nathanael gave him a grateful smile. “If we save Papillon Blanc –”

“We save Paris.” Adrien said firmly, smiling as well. Then he looked serious. “But what does my father have to do with all of this?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Nathanael said gently. “Maybe he just found it and decided to keep it?” He offered. “This miraculous obviously has been trying to stay hidden, so maybe your father was an ends to a means. Maybe he was influenced by its magic.”

“Maybe.” Adrien said quietly, looking at the miraculous. Then he shook the thoughts away and looked back at Nathanael. “The more important question is what should we do with it.”

Nathanael nodded his head in agreement. “We should bring it to Master Fu. He’s the one who holds on to the miraculouses, so it only makes sense right?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Adrien agreed. “He’ll know what to do with it.” He closed the safe and put the painting back in place.

“Then I’ll stop by his shop on the way home.” Nathanael said, thinking through their next steps. “But wait, what about your father? Will you get in trouble if he notices that his stuff is missing?”

Adrien ran a hand through his hair. “There’s a lot that my father doesn’t notice about me. Even if he sees that it’s missing, he won’t think that his _perfect_ son had anything to do with it.” He said. Nathanael could hear the note of bitterness in his tone. Then Adrien broke into a smile. “Besides, I’m a-meow-zing at keeping secrets.”

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smiled. “Okay, then I better head to Master Fu’s now. I guess I’ll have to beat you again in Mecha Strike another time.”

“We’ll see about that.” Adrien said, adopting one of his wide, Chat Noir grins. They walked to the doorway of the room, looked both ways, and when they knew the coast was clear Adrien led Nathanael to the front door.

“This was really fun, Adrien.” Nathanael said with a smile. “You know, before the whole secret miraculous, Hawkmoth origin story stuff.”

Adrien laughed. “Yeah, it was.” He agreed. “See you at patrol tonight? We should probably tell Marinette about all of this.”

“Right, I’ll be there.”

Adrien smiled. “Good luck with Master Fu.”

“Goodbye Plagg.” Yishu said, floating to rest on Nathanael’s head.

“See ya later, Yishu.” Plagg said sleepily, snuggling back into Adrien’s shirt pocket.

Nathanael opened the door and turned around to face Adrien. “Your mom, she looked like she was a really nice woman.”

Adrien smiled, yet there was some sadness there. “She was, or, she _is_.” He sighed. “I wish I knew what happened to her.”

“I know I can’t say anything that’ll really help,” Nathanael said, “But in my experience I’ve found that the people you love always find a way to get back to you one way or another.”

“I hope you’re right.” Adrien said.

Nathanael gave him one last smile and then went through the doorway. As he walked down the driveway and turned onto the sidewalk he could feel the brooch in his hand. Yishu was right, there was something off about it. Something a little _too_ magical. He just hoped that Master Fu would have some answers, but at the same time he knew that his meeting with the old man usually left him with more questions.

He sighed and kept walking. Then he was hit by some invisible force that knocked him off his feet.

“Oh no.” Nathanael groaned, realizing that he was sitting in some sort of roller coaster car. There was only one explanation for this.

“And they said _I_ wasn’t tall enough to go on any of the rides!” A voice yelled from above. “Well, how do you like me now?!”

Nathanael looked up and saw a child towering over the city. He couldn’t have been more than six years old and yet he was about as tall as the Arc de Triomphe – and Nathanael was very familiar with just how tall _that_ landmark was.

When Nathanael looked ahead of him he saw a track stretched out down the street. At the end of the street it contorted into wild loops and inclines. Then the roller car he was strapped into started to move.

“Keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times!” The akuma yelled. “Or don’t, that will be entertaining too!”

“God, I hate roller coasters.” Nathanael mumbled to himself as it picked up speed. He struggled against the straps but it was no use. And there wasn’t much point in transforming and risking revealing his identity if he’d still be trapped anyway.

Then roller coaster suddenly rocketed down the tracks and Nathanael did the only logical thing:

“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!”


	2. Nothing Gold Can Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love writing Chat/Renard interactions so much *clenches fist* *single tear*
> 
> This took longer to post than I expected. I've just been dealing with some hard stuff lately and it's been difficult to find the energy. But I missed my tomato child :')
> 
> Hope you enjoy! <33

“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTT!”

Nathanael huffed and gripped the safety bar in front of him. At least his arms were free, even though his chest was too strapped down for him to move much. He felt his hair whip against his face as he shot through the air and over the Parisian buildings. He looked down at the familiar rooftops, rooftops that had become even more familiar since he became Renard.

A normal person would probably be more concerned if they were in this situation – but for Nathanael this was kind of an everyday thing. He’d fought a _bear_ , a bear that ended up being his _mother_. He’d been kidnapped, beaten, manipulated, and thrown from the Arc de Triomphe. He had Hawkmoth inside of his head for _months_. Nothing really phased him anymore.

He wasn’t sure if that was impressive or just sad.

So no, he wasn’t afraid. He was annoyed. Akuma attacks had become more frequent the past couple of weeks, and it seemed like Paris’ heroes couldn’t catch a break these days. It’s like Hawkmoth knew they were on summer vacation, and picked up the pace just to spite them.

Nathanael could picture Hawkmoth’s voice – not in the way he _used_ to – but in a more comical way – saying, “HAHA YOU MEDDLING KIDS, YOU WANT TO GO TO THE BEACH? YOU WANT TO SLEEP IN? WELL TOO BAD! HAVE A BAGUETTE THEMED AKUMA!”

And the sad thing is that the baguette akuma was not something that Nathanael had just made up as he was speeding down the roller coaster track. No, they had to fight “The Breadful Baker” with his baguette sword just last week.

And he had been hit in the face by a _croissant_. A very stale, very pointy croissant. Adrien was determined that he would never live that down.

“Did I hear a damsel in distress?” A voice called from somewhere behind him. Nathanael rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. At least he wouldn’t be stuck here much longer.

“My hero.” Nathanael said dryly, a smirk tugging at his lips. He heard Chat yell cataclysm, and immediately knew what he was going to do.

“Be careful!” Nathanael warned as Chat landed on the roller car he was in. Chat just gave him a maniacal grin, his hair whipping wildly across his face as he balanced on the speeding car, and then swiped his claws across Nathanael’s chest. Nathanael closed his eyes out of instinct, and then he felt his straps loosen and watched as they fell down to the floor of the car.

“You look nervous; did you forget that I’m a professional?” Chat asked innocently, suppressing the grin on his face.

Nathanael let out a laugh and reached out his hand. “No, but I _was_ wondering if you were going to take your revenge after losing to me in Mecha Strike.”

Chat smiled wide and grabbed Nathanael’s outstretched hand. “Although that _does_ sound tempting, I couldn’t do that to my number one fan.” He said with a wink.

Nathanael scoffed. “You’re still going with that bit I see.”

“It’s my duty to make sure it never dies.” Chat declared, putting his free hand on his chest. “Now let’s get you down and out of the eyes of the public.” He said, his expression more serious as he looked down at the panicked crowd that was forming below them.

Nathanael nodded his head. “Right.” It was time to focus on the akuma.

Chat lifted Nathanael out of the car and Nathanael wrapped his arms around his friend’s neck. Chat looked down at him and grinned as they stood on top of the roller car that was still zooming down the track. Nathanael noticed that it was about to go into a steep drop. “You know if you didn’t already have a girlfriend –” He began.

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smiled. “What about Ladybug?”

Chat shrugged and gave him a wink. “I love a good love triangle.”

Nathanael couldn’t help but laugh. “I think the love square was bad enough. Just get us down Chat, before –”

“GETTING OUT OF THE ROLLER CAR WHILE IT IS STILL IN MOTION IS NOT ALLOWED!” The akuma yelled from high above the city. Suddenly the track twisted and they were upside down.

“That’s not good.” Chat said, and then they were falling.

Nathanael could feel his miraculous grow warm around his neck, and was about to pull it out when a red blur grabbed Chat’s tail and projected them through the air. Nathanael was disoriented as he clung to Chat’s neck for dear life. Then he felt solid ground on his back.

He watched Chat groan and sit up, rubbing his head. “Thanks for the save, My Lady.”

“I’m just glad I got here in time.” A voice answered. Nathanael turned his head and saw Ladybug standing over them, hands on her hips.

“How’d you know we were in trouble?” Nathanael asked, lifting himself to his feet. With a quick look around he saw that they were on the roof of some building.

“Alya and I were actually passing this way when the akuma arrived, and it’s not like he’s hard to miss.” Ladybug said, glancing over at the akuma. The kid was creating more track with a wave of his hand, adding loops and steep drops that weaved through the city. “And it wasn’t too difficult to slip away from Alya either, her phone was out and live streaming the whole thing in seconds.” She added with a small smile.

Nathanael looked down at the crowd and spotted Alya in the front, her phone raised to get the perfect angle of the giant 6-year-old. Then he heard the panicked yells of citizens and saw that the akuma had managed to trap more people in its roller coaster. “You guys need to get out there. I’ll join you soon.”

Chat and Ladybug saw where Nathanael was looking and then gave him a nod in understanding.

“Let’s go, kitty.”

“After, you, Bugaboo.” Chat said with a bow. He gave Nathanael a salute and vaulted off the roof after Ladybug. Nathanael watched as they hurried towards the akuma.

“Okay, Yishu.” Nathanael said. His kwami flew out from a secret inside shirt pocket.

Marinette had been nice enough to sew a Yishu-sized pocket inside of a majority of his summer shirts. Although Yishu missed his hair, it just wasn’t practical to wear beanies in the summer. Nathanael looked around to make sure that no one could see him.

There was always this feeling of excitement before he transformed that never grew old. And by this point he had transformed many times. Enough times that Paris had fully adjusted to the idea of him being the new hero of Paris. There was even a section of the Ladyblog that was dedicated to him.

He clenched his fists in determination and looked out at the city skyline.

‘Let’s do this.’ He thought.

“Transforme moi!” He yelled. He felt the energy of the miraculous travel up his limbs. A seed of warmth blossomed in his chest.

His connection to his miraculous had become stronger since his fall from the Arc de Triomphe. The fox tail necklace was now an extension of him - no, at this point it was a _part_ of him.

_‘Like a quiet lake full of clouds, your miraculous is full of_ you _.’_ Yishu stated fondly, reading his thoughts. He and Yishu were also even more in sync since that final battle against Volpina. They could pick up on each other’s thoughts and feelings more easily, especially when he was transformed.

Nathanael could feel the familiar mask around his eyes. ‘Right.’ He thought. He could sense Yishu’s smile from within his necklace.

He unhooked his grappling hook from his belt and aimed it at the building nearest to the akuma. Then he pulled the trigger and couldn’t help but let out a breathless laugh as he flew through the air.

He would take the thrill of this over a roller coaster any day.

“So, I still don’t understand.” Chat said as he dodged the roller car that was flying towards him on the track. “Where in Paris are there roller coasters?”

“Disneyland!” Ladybug called from her perch on another stretch of track. Renard watched as she glared hard at the akuma, probably trying to figure out where the akumatized object was hidden. Renard jumped from the building onto the akuma’s back.

The akuma didn’t like that.

“There’s a Disneyland in Paris?!” Chat gasped, mouth open in surprise.

“You didn’t know that?!” Renard yelled. He held on to the nape of the akuma’s neck as it reached behind its back to try and pull him off.

“Do you parents let you have any fun?” Ladybug asked, then her eyes widened, “Sorry, I didn’t mean –” She rushed out, regret heavy in her voice. It was like she’d forgotten this was Adrien she was talking to. Adrien, the boy with the missing mom. Adrien, the kid with the absent father. Adrien, the perfect model who lived in a house with steel bars.

Adrien’s home life was difficult, and it was taking some time for Ladybug to realize that Chat Noir’s was the same. That _they_ were the same.

“Well now we’re definitely taking you!” Renard interrupted. Chat snapped up his head to look at him. Renard saw the grateful smile on his face. “Except after this experience I don’t know if you’ll still be interested.” Renard added, watching as Chat almost didn’t jump over another speeding car in time.

“Are you kidding? This is fun!” Chat said with a laugh, then Renard heard a sudden “oof”.

“Chat!” Ladybug yelled, breaking her gaze from the akuma to watch as Chat was being carried away by one of the roller cars.

“I’m fine!” He called, his voice getting more distant.

Renard tried to ignore the sudden pit of worry that had knotted in his stomach and went back to searching the akuma. Then he found what he was looking for. “Ladybug! It’s around his wrist! One of those amusement park wristbands!”

Ladybug looked down at the akuma’s wrist and found what Renard was talking about – the akumatized object. “Got it!” She replied.

Then Renard heard a high pitched yell. He looked down and saw one of the roller cars speeding up an impossibly steep incline, and there were people in it. His heart dropped when he saw what was wrong. After the incline the track leveled out – and then it stopped.

He felt the rumble of the akuma’s laugh as he continued to hold on. “I THOUGHT I WOULD MAKE IT MORE EXTREME.”

“Renard!” Ladybug called, looking at him with wild eyes. Renard narrowed his eyes in determination and let go of the akuma. He dropped down to one of the tracks and began to run towards the roller car.

“You purify the akuma! I’ll try and stop the car!” Renard called over his shoulder, not stopping to slow down. He lifted up his grappling hook and flew through the sky until he landed on the track. He had placed himself between the car and the where the track stopped.

“Okay Renard, you can do this.” He mumbled to himself, mustering his courage as he watched the car flying towards him.

There was no other option – he had to stop it.

He took a deep breath and focused all of his energy in his lungs. He tried not to think about what would happen if it didn’t work – if it wouldn’t be enough.

He thought of his fear, his desperation, _all_ of his emotions, until it came together into a solid ball of energy in his chest.

And then he let it go.

As the car came speeding towards him he watched as the waves of energy from his fox cry traveled across the track and hit the car with full force. He could only watch, fingers digging into his palms, as the roller car began to slow down. It kept losing speed until it stopped only a few inches away from him.

He let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Thank God.” He breathed, slumping his shoulders a little in relief. “Are you all okay?” He asked, hurrying to check on the citizens in the roller car. What he did was extremely dangerous, but he had no other choice. He just hoped that everyone was alive.

He put his hands on the side of the car and watched as the people slowly lifted their heads up and looked around. Then he recognized a familiar head of ombre hair.

“Alya?!” He blurted out, his heart pounding. She looked at him and gave him a shaky smile.

“I’m fine.” She said sheepishly.

Renard ran a frustrated hand through his hair, moving the bangs out of his eyes. “Please, if you’re going to run into the middle of akuma attacks, at least _try_ to be more careful.” He pleaded.

“Aw. Were you worried about me?” She asked, giving him a wink. “I should let you know that I have a boyfriend.”

Renard rolled his eyes and smiled. Then he saw that she still had her phone clutched in her hand. “You know you’re not supposed to bring loose items into the roller car.” He said dryly.

Alya grinned up at him. Then he checked on the other people in the car. Everyone was perfectly fine, maybe a little shaken, but no one was injured. He finally allowed his heartbeat to slow down and began to help them all out of the car and onto the track. Then he brought them safely to the street one by one, using his grappling hook to lower them down.

Once that was done, he looked up from the street to see how Ladybug was doing. Chat Noir was back by her side, and he watched as they managed to get the wristband off of the akuma.

Ladybug ripped the akumatized object in half, and quickly trapped the butterfly in her yo-yo.

“Chat! The kid!” Renard yelled, and Chat followed his gaze and saw that the kid had shrunk down to normal size, and was now falling through the air. Renard could hear the startled gasps of the citizens around him.

Thankfully Chat was able to catch the boy and take him safely to the ground.

The akuma was gone, the city healed – everything was back to normal.

“Adrien!” A woman from the crowd called, running towards Chat and the boy. Renard watched as Chat looked at her in panic and confusion. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something when the woman grabbed the little boy and cradled him to her chest.

“Adrien, oh my precious baby are you okay?” The woman said softly, rocking him slowly in her arms.

“I just wanted to be able to ride the rides.” The boy said, tears in his eyes.

“I know baby. One day you will, I promise. You just have a little bit more growing to do.” Then she looked up at Chat. “Thank you.”

Chat rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “No problem madame, I’m just happy that your son is okay.”

She gave him a grateful nod and went back to the crowd, where what must have been the rest of their family was waiting. Renard noticed how Chat was watching them walk away – mother and son – drinking in the scene with a quiet desperation.

He walked up to Chat and gave him a nudge. “On a scale of 1-10, how freaked were you when she said ‘Adrien’?”

“Fifty.” Chat answered, letting out a breath. Renard chuckled and put an arm around his partner’s shoulders. Chat finally tore his eyes away from the family to look at him. “You did good.” Renard said, giving his friend a meaningful look.

“You did too, I saw you save that car full of people.” Chat said.

“Yeah, remind me to tell Alya that she needs to pay for my inevitable ulcer medication.”

Chat laughed and ran a hand through his hair. He seemed a lot lighter than he was only moments before.

“You two celebrating without me?” Ladybug teased, walking up to her two partners.

“No, but I _am_ trying to convince him to break up with his girlfriend and date me instead.” Chat said with a serious expression.

Ladybug quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “That’s too bad, because I was going to ask if you were free tonight.”

Renard heard Chat make a small choking noise as he stood up straighter. “R-really? You were gonna ask me out?”

Ladybug looked at him, a smirk tugging at the edge of her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She began, dragging out her words. “I was talking to _Renard_. But it looks like there’s just too much competition.” She said, putting a hand on her hip.

Chat stared at her with an open mouth for a moment as Renard laughed behind his hand.

“You _wound_ me, My Lady.” He finally said, but his partners could tell that he was holding back a grin.

“Any comment for the Ladyblog?” Alya said, rushing up to them.

“Yes, don’t run into the middle of danger and end up in a runaway roller car.” Renard said dryly, giving her a pointed look.

“You were in that thing?!” Ladybug asked, her eyes wide.

Alya at least had the sense to look sheepish. “Okay, that’s fair.”

“I actually do have something to say.” Chat said, adjusting his posture. “To all the citizens of Paris, if you’ve been akumatized and need support, you should join Paris Against Hawkmoth. It’s a great group run by someone who has been akumatized himself, and it’s where people go to talk through their experiences.”

“They usually have meetings every Monday at 6pm.” Ladybug added, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling into the camera.

Renard tried not to blush.

Alya turned the camera towards herself. “As a member of PAH myself, I also highly recommend it. You can learn more about it under the PAH tab on the blog. Until next time ladybloggers!” She said, then she shut off the camera. 

“Thanks, you guys. You were all so awesome!” Alya said, pumping her fist.

“Please go home, Alya.” Renard said with a tired smile.

Alya stuck out her tongue. Then she looked like she just remembered something. “Oh crap! Marinette!” Then she ran back into the crowd.

“That’s my cue to detransform.” Ladybug declared, pulling out her yo-yo. “I don’t want Alya to freak out.”

“Yeah, and my time is almost up.” Chat said, looking at his ring as it beeped.

“Then I’ll see you guys at patrol tonight.” Renard said. 

Ladybug nodded her head. “See you guys soon.”

With that, the three superheroes went their separate ways.

Renard found a hidden corner of an alley and took a deep breath. He was beginning to feel the fatigue from the fight in his bones.

“Fox out.” He breathed, and he felt the transformation melt off of him.

“That was amazing, Nathanael. Good work.” Yishu said, a proud smile on her face.

“Thanks Yishu.” Nathanael said, rubbing behind her ear. He could hear her pleased hum.

“Time to go home and eat some leftover pancakes.” Nathanael said with a smile. He watched Yishu’s eyes light up.

“The cinnamon ones?” She asked hopefully.

“Of course.” Nathanael said with a laugh. “What am I, a heathen?”

Yishu giggled and flew into the pocket of his shirt. Together they left the alley and headed in the direction of home, which thankfully wasn’t too far away.

Everything turned out okay – the city was saved, no one was hurt, their identities were still concealed –

He passed by Marinette’s family’s bakery and saw the mural he had painted only a few months ago. Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Renard – they were an unbeatable team, nothing could change that.

And yet Nathanael couldn’t shake the feeling that he was forgetting something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist instead of tomatofox and ladynoir, adrinath is endgame ;)


	3. Bound For Your Distant Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be told from Lila's perspective! (And the next chapter as well)

Lila walked down the street and breathed in the city. Fresh bread wafted from the bakery window a little farther down the block. She could smell smoke from abandoned cigarettes, and the thick smell of a coming thunder storm. Together it made her head feel hazy. She wondered if Paris was a smell she’d ever get used to.

She couldn’t help but think of the smell of sand, sand that would stick to her feet and rub against her skin. Or the nights sitting outside, the wind carrying the scent of lemons from the tree in her grandmother’s backyard. Or the way that Italy always seemed to _smell_ warm, although she couldn’t exactly put that sensation into words.

The best way she could make sense of it was this: Genoa, where she grew up, smelled orange, and Paris, where she grew up in a different way, smelled blue.

Maybe that was why it’s been such a challenge splitting her time between these two cities. Orange and blue, two opposing colors. Paris and Italy, two opposing sides of her heart. Two halves of one home.

Lila continued to walk down the block, shades of blue shifting in and out of her lungs. And yet there was one thing about Paris that wasn’t blue. That stood like a beacon against it all.

A person, to be more precise, and he was red.

‘Like a tomato.’ Lila thought, amusement dancing across her eyes. She reached into her bag and pulled out a blue notebook. She still remembered the night that one of Paris’ own heroes gave her this notebook. Remembered when he told her that it was her future.

She had to admit, there was something therapeutic about starting over with a new notebook. It was like, if she narrowed her mind enough, she could almost make herself believe that she’d never been controlled by Volpina. Kind of like how people squinted and their vision became all blurry and unfocused.

If only she could squint through life.

Lila sighed and opened her notebook. Then she grabbed the pencil that was tucked behind her ear.

_‘Paris is blue, and Genoa is orange, but what color does that make me?’_

She looked at the words she just wrote and furrowed her brow in thought. She didn’t know why she wanted an answer so much. She knew who she was. She was Lila. Her parents were the famous actors Luca and Valentina Rossi. Italy is her home, but Paris is where she lives now.

And yet she couldn’t help but feel like she was staring into a shallow pond. Or a deep lake where she couldn’t see the bottom.

She felt a shove and watched as her notebook flew out of her hands.

“You should keep your head up when you’re walking.” A man said gruffly as he hurried past.

“Désolé, Monsieur!” Lila called after him, although she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of annoyance. “It seems like everyone in Paris always has somewhere to be.” She grumbled as she kneeled on the ground to pick up her notebook, collecting some of the loose papers that fell out before they were carried away by the wind. Then her eyes fell on a pretty brooch.

“Wait, Monsieur I think you dropped –!” Lila said, looking up, but the man was already gone. “Something.” She finished under her breath.

Her gaze dropped back down to the brooch. It was made up of different shades of blue and green, and looked like the plumage of a peacock. It was beautiful, and she wouldn’t want to leave it here in the street. As she picked it up she wondered who could leave something like this behind. She couldn’t imagine someone doing it on purpose.

She noticed that she was in the way as people tried to move around her on the street, so she put her notebook in her bag, got up, and continued walking with the current of people, the brooch still in her hand.

‘What should I even do with this? It’s not like there’s some city-wide lost and found.’ Lila thought, adjusting the strap on her bag.

Then she realized that she had reached her destination. She stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. “I guess I can always get a second opinion.” She reasoned aloud, placing the brooch carefully in her bag. She lifted her hand to knock, hesitated for a moment, and then followed through. She felt the hard wood on her knuckles and waited, shifting from one foot to the other and biting her lip.

She watched as the door opened and she was met with that familiar set of ocean-blue eyes. She swore she felt her heart melt in an instant.

Those same eyes widened in surprise. “Lila?” He said quietly. Then a wide smile spread across his face and he ran a hand through his long hair. “Oh my god it really _is_ you!”

Lila giggled and did a little curtsy. “Back and better than ever.”

Nathanael looked her up and down, still in shock. Then he shook his head and snapped out of his apparent daze. “Hey Dad I’m heading out, I’ll be back!” He called.

“Just don’t get captured by any akumas!” Lila could hear Nathanael’s dad reply. She couldn’t help but wince.

Nathanael gave her a sympathetic smile. And although Lila appreciated it, she didn’t want him to feel like she needed pity. She was okay, and she wanted Nathanael to know that.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t fall off of any buildings!” Lila said, and she watched as Nathanael’s dad poked his head out from the kitchen.

“Oh, hello Lila! I didn’t know you were back from Italy.” Then he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. “Sorry about the whole – akuma – thing –”

Lila laughed and waved her arm. “No need to apologize, it’s in the past. It’s the future that matters.”

Nathanael smiled at that. Then he turned back to his father. “And as I keep telling you, that wasn’t me up there, it was Renard. I was perfectly safe.”

“I’m still going to worry about you, kiddo. It’s in the parenting manual, Chapter 6.” His dad said, waving a spatula in his hand. “But my favorite chapter is Chapter 7: What to do When Your Child Starts Their First Relationship.”

“BYE DAD!” Nathanael called, closing the door. Lila tried to hide an amused smirk behind her hand.

“Aw, I wanted to know what Chapter 8 was.” Lila teased.

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smiled. “Want to go to the park?” He asked.

“I’d love to.”

“So you didn’t tell me you were coming back to Paris today.” Nathanael said as they started walking to the park across the street. Lila saw the slight pout on his face and couldn’t help but find it adorable.

“I wanted to surprise you.” Lila said, shrugging. “I like to have a little mystery in my life. Don’t you?”

Nathanael cracked a smile and glanced at her. “Mystery is my middle name.”

Lila laughed and gave him a gentle shove. They walked into the park and sat down on one of the benches.

Lila leaned back in her seat and looked at the sky. It was cloudy, but she could see the tendrils of sunlight peeking through the gray. She smiled. “When I first moved here, I _hated_ Paris. It wasn’t like Italy at all – it was louder, colder, grayer.” Lila explained, still looking up. “I felt so out of place. All I wanted was that feeling of _home_ , and I couldn’t imagine finding that feeling here.” Then she looked at Nathanael. “And yet, leaving Paris for two months, it was harder than I thought it’d be.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “If I went back in time and told my younger self that I’d be aching to go back to Paris, she would’ve laughed in my face. But it’s the truth.”

Nathanael smiled at her. “Paris missed you too.”

Lila laughed. “I wouldn’t go _that_ far.”

Nathanael gently took one of her hands, and Lila’s eyes widened as she looked at him. “ _I_ missed you.”

She dropped her gaze to look at their hands and smiled. “I missed you too. You’re what I missed the most, actually.”

“More than the croissants?” Nathanael asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lila furrowed her brow in thought. “Actually, I think I missed the akuma attacks the most. You know, the sudden fear, the panic, the destruction of property. You can’t find that in Italy.”

Nathanael laughed. “Paris certainly is one of a kind.”

Lila hummed in agreement. “I saw the video of the akuma attack on my way here. It’s really great that the heroes mentioned your support group.”

She looked at Nathanael and saw the slight blush on his cheeks. “Yeah it was really cool of them.”

“It must be nice to be a superhero, fighting bad guys, flying through the city, having everyone _trust you_ –” Lila stopped and looked away. She tried not to fool herself into thinking she could be anything other than Lila, and yet the writer in her couldn’t help but create fantasies – fantasies where for once, _she_ was the protagonist of her story.

For once she wasn’t the villain.

“But they also have this huge responsibility on their shoulders, this expectation to always save the day, to always do the right thing – there are people under those masks, you know? People like you and me.” Nathanael countered.

“I’ve always imagined that they live in some sort of secret hideout where they wait for the next akuma. You know, somewhere dark and mysterious, maybe with a litter box or two.” Lila confessed.

Nathanael laughed. “You don’t think they have lives? Families?”

Lila shrugged. “They just look so untouchable, it’s hard to imagine.”

“Trust me, they’re a lot more breakable than you might think. No one’s invincible, not even heroes.” Nathanael said. When Lila glanced at him, she saw that his gaze was a million miles away.

Lila nudged him with her shoulder. “I see you really adopted the whole ‘brooding artist’ thing while I was gone.”

Nathanael smiled and looked at her. “I guess I’ve just had some things on my mind lately.”

Lila squeezed his hand. “But it’s summer, the only things on your mind should be sunburn and ice cream.”

Nathanael shifted to face her on the bench. “I really missed you.”

“You already said that.” Lila said, smirking. But she couldn’t help but feel her heart flutter at his words.

Nathanael reached over with his free hand and placed it gently on her cheek. “I know, it’s just – it’s nice to have you back. It’s nice that we can be – like this.”

“Emojis weren’t enough for you?” Lila teased.

Nathanael laughed, and Lila could feel his breath on her face. She didn’t realize how close they’d gotten. Their noses were almost touching. “They were very…creative, but no, they didn’t quite do it for me.”

Lila gently moved her hand out of Nathanael’s and ran it through his hair, stopping to rest it on the back of his head. “I would like you to kiss me now.”

She could see the blush on his cheeks as he nodded his head a little. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers.

Lila closed her eyes and melted into his touch, putting her other hand on his knee as she moved her mouth against his. It was sweet and unhurried – it was the best hello she ever tasted.

A few moments later Nathanael pulled away and stroked his thumb against her cheek, a soft smile on his face. “Welcome back.”

Lila smiled as well and rested her head on his shoulder, a warm buzz spreading from her chest to her fingertips. It was steady and comforting, like the red glow of fire coals.

Paris was blue. Nathanael was red. And Lila was content to find her place in between.

Then she remembered the brooch.

“I found something on my way here that I wanted to show you –” Lila said, lifting her head off of Nathanael’s shoulder and rifling through her bag.

Nathanael shifted more upright on the bench and she could feel his curious eyes on her. “Sounds mysterious.”

“It kind of is. Someone must have dropped it while they were getting somewhere and didn’t realize. I was wondering if I should bring it to the police or –” Lila felt her hand close around the brooch and she began to pull it out of her bag.

Then there was a crash and a not-too-distant cry for help.

Lila watched Nathanael immediately move to his feet. Then he looked at Lila and gave her a sheepish smile.

“It’s an akuma attack, isn’t it?” Lila asked, then she saw a flash of yellow light illuminate the block across from them.

‘Yup, definitely an akuma attack.’ Lila thought to herself.

“It wouldn’t feel like you were really back without one though, don’t you think?” Nathanael offered, scanning the street. To Lila, it almost looked like Nathanael was anxious to run _towards_ the akuma. But that was insane.

Lila sighed and smiled. “Sadly, you’re right. What should we do?”

“It looks like the akuma is heading the opposite way, but someone should check and see what that cry for help was all about.” Nathanael said, clenching his fists in determination. He looked so confident. This was a side of him that Lila wasn’t sure she was all that familiar with – but she liked it.

Then he turned to look back at her. “You stay here.” He directed.

“Wha – what are you doing?!” Lila said, watching with an open mouth as Nathanael ran in the direction of the akuma. “Are you crazy?!”

“I need to make sure they’re okay! Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!” Nathanael called over his shoulder, never slowing down.

Lila watched him in disbelief. “Dio mio, these Parisians are insane.” She said under her breath. She guessed that’s what happened when attacks from mind-controlled evil minions were the norm in a person’s day-to-day life. You just start running _towards_ the danger.

“What am I going to do now?” Lila said to herself, tapping her foot in agitation. She wasn’t the type of person who just _waited_ while the action was happening somewhere else. She didn’t like to stay still, she didn’t like to follow orders, and she _really_ didn’t like worrying about Nathanael, who was probably getting himself killed.

“I want to do something. I _need_ to do something.” She said under her breath. Then she felt a warmth in her hand. She’d forgotten that she was still holding the brooch.

She pulled it out of her bag and her eyes widened when she realized that it was glowing. She didn’t think that brooches usually did that, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t simply some Parisian trend.

The light emanating from the brooch intensified until she had to move her gaze away from it, covering her eyes with her free hand. She could see a bright green light in the corners of her vision, and then it disappeared as quickly as it came.

“What’s going on?” Lila asked, her head still turned away from the brooch.

“Maintaining eye contact is key, little one, especially when in the presence of such beauty.” A voice said. Lila slowly dropped her hand away from her eyes and looked back at the brooch. She was met with two large, black eyes with purple irises.

“Che due coglioni!” Lila yelled, scrambling to the other side of the bench and holding her knees to her chest. She stared at the creature with wide eyes.

“Okay, not the reaction I was going for, and _language_ , but I can understand why you might be in awe. It’s not every day that you meet a magical being.” The small creature said, fanning out his deep blue tail feathers. The only way Lila could describe the creature was that he looked like a mix between a bug and a peacock.

“A-a magical being?” Lila managed to choke out.

The peacock, bug, _thing_ let out an impatient little sigh. “I’m a kwami, I give people magical powers so they can fight evil. And they always look good doing it.” He added with a wink.

“But why are you here?” Lila asked.

“Because you’re my new chosen!” The thing – the kwami – exclaimed, making it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I’m…chosen? To do what?”

“To be a superhero!”

Lila laughed and shook her head, running a hand through her long hair. “I’m dreaming, I’m still in Italy and I’m dreaming.” She mumbled to herself.

“I know I’m a thing of dreams honey but I assure you I’m real.” The kwami said, smoothing out his feathers.

“Then you have the wrong person. I shouldn’t be chosen for anything.”

“Why is that?”

“Well I was a – I had – I was a villain.”

The kwami scoffed and waved a tiny nub of a hand. “I’m not one to focus on the past. It’s the future that’s a lot more interesting.” He said, a mysterious glint in his eye. Then they heard a crash in the distance. “We should hurry.”

“Why?”

“Because the danger is that way, and you’re here. It’s time to make a dramatic entrance into the superhero world!”

Lila was at a loss for words. Being a superhero? She always dreamed she could be something special – some _one_ special, but she’d never expected it to be handed to her like this. She was just – Lila. No, it was even worse than that. Only a few months ago she was the _bad guy_. This had to be some sort of trick, she couldn’t allow herself to believe it was anything different.

Then she heard a loud bang and another startled cry.

But if someone really needed her, what kind of person would she be if she walked away? After everything she’d been through, she couldn’t let someone else suffer because of Hawkmoth, especially if she could do something to prevent it.

“So how do I do this?” Lila asked.

“Stand up.” The kwami instructed, a pleased smile on his face.

Lila got up from the bench.

“Good, now make a cool pose. Something intimidating yet elegant.”

Lila looked at the creature with a raised brow. “Um, okay.” She straightened her back and put one hand on her hip, looking across her shoulder at the kwami. “How’s this?”

The peacock scanned her up and down. “Hmmm we’ll work on it later. It’s a good start though.” Then he flew down to touch the brooch that was still in her hand. “Now put this on.”

Lila attached it to the lapel of her jacket.

“Amazing listening skills.” The kwami said. Lila tried not to roll her eyes.

“Last part. When you’re ready, say ‘transforme moi’.”

Lila took a deep breath. She opened her mouth to say it, but then she stopped and looked at the kwami. “I just realized, we never introduced ourselves. I’m Lila.”

The kwami smiled and bowed his head a little. “I’m Duusu.”

“Okay Duusu,” Lila said, looking at the street where the akuma just was. “Transforme moi!”

She watched as a blue-green light trailed up her body and down her limbs. It filled her with this new and exciting energy, one that was full of probability and potential.

When she looked down she saw that she was in a deep blue spandex costume. Black boots came up to her knees, and she was holding a large fan that looked like the fanned out feathers of a peacock. Her sleeves were covered in some thin, flowey material, and she had a length of satin that trailed from the small of her back to the floor. Upon further inspection she saw that it was designed to look like she had peacock feathers of her own.

She reached up to touch her hair. It was pulled back into a high ponytail.

“This is…something else.” She mused aloud. She tried to swallow her panic as she felt a mask materialize around her eyes. It reminded her too much of Volpina – and yet she could tell that this was different. It _felt_ different. More magical, more in control. She felt focused.

She could do this.

“Duusu?” Lila asked, but the kwami didn’t respond. Then she remembered how the kwami flew into the brooch right before she transformed. She looked down at the – what did Hawkmoth always call it? _The miraculous_. At least she knew she wasn’t alone.

“Okay Lila. This will be simple. Find the akuma, and then…” She didn’t know what exactly she was supposed to do after that. “And then you’ll improvise.” She reasoned.

She took one last deep breath, and then ran towards the street, following the path of destruction and distant panic.

‘Time to be a hero, I guess.’ Lila thought to herself, breaking into a run, fan snapped shut in her hand.

She just hoped that she’d get back to the park before Nathanael noticed she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Duusu is said to be female in canon, but I wanted Duusu to be male. Partially because peacocks are male but also because I want the Lila/Duusu relationship to foil the Nathanael/Yishu one.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed!


	4. To Imagination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of when I posted the first chapter of my first fanfiction - Illusions and Illustrations.
> 
> I just want to thank everyone who stuck with me, commented, gave kudos, or simply enjoyed the story. It's because of you guys that I've gotten so much happiness out of this :D 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“I just got back from Italy.” Lila said to herself, vaulting over a smoking car.

“I kissed my – boyfriend? I kissed Nathanael.” She continued, flipping her long ponytail over her shoulder as she kept running.

“Now’s there’s an akuma.” Lila added, scanning the block for that flash of pale yellow light she saw earlier.

“And I’m chasing after it.” She finished, shaking her head. She had to give Paris credit – there was never a dull day in the city of lights.

Then she reached the end of the street. When she turned to look around the corner she spotted the akuma.

She was a young woman, probably in her 30s. She was wearing a white-and-black costume, and held a long black staff in her hands. She was also fighting Renard.

‘Wow, he got here fast.’ Lila thought to herself. He must have been nearby.

“Men are lying scum!” The akuma yelled, waving her staff. She blasted a beam of light from it, aiming for Renard, but he grappled out of the way just in time. “They tell you they love you, and then you find them with another woman!” She shrieked. “Why can’t it be black and white? Why can’t people just tell the truth?”

Renard had gotten too close to the akuma, and she hit him in the stomach with her staff. Lila watched as he flew across the street like a rag doll.

Lila clenched her fists. She had to do something. She ran into the middle of the street and pointed at the akuma.

“Things aren’t meant to be black and white!” Lila yelled. That got the akuma’s attention. She struggled to find something more to say, lowering her arm. “Not – Not all men are like that! You can’t punish someone for something they didn’t do!”

The akuma growled. “Look at him,” she began, gesturing towards Renard. “He’s probably a liar too. He even hides behind a mask. All liars _must_ be punished.”

Lila winced. That struck a little too close to home. Then she took a deep breath and slowly approached the akuma. “I don’t like liars either.” She admitted, putting up her hands in a placating gesture. “Lying only hurts the people you love, I know that from experience. I _was_ that person. The person who lied.”

The akuma gripped her staff more tightly in her fists. Lila glanced to the side and saw that Renard was slowly beginning to sit up. She hoped that he was okay.

“But I’m still learning. And although I’ve done bad things, I’m not a bad person. The man who cheated on you – he was wrong. He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness. But terrorizing the people around you, lashing out in anger, that won’t make you feel any better.”

The akuma looked at her for a moment, and Lila began to hope that she had gotten through to her. Then a black blur flew through the air and collided with the akuma.

Lila heard the sound of metal clashing metal, and she saw Chat Noir in a standoff with the akuma, his baton and her staff locked in combat.

The akuma screamed and threw the superhero off of her. Chat Noir slid backwards, moving into a defensive stance. Then he glanced at Lila.

“So Hawkmoth managed to pull off two akumas at once. Great. So much for sleeping in this summer.” He grumbled.

“I-I’m not an akuma.” Lila said. Chat lifted an eyebrow at that.

“Then who are you?”

Lila was at a loss for words. Chat Noir had a good point – who was she?

“I’m well, I’m –” She began.

“Chat look out!” A voice said, and then there was a flash of yellow light. Lila raised her arms to shield her eyes and when she lowered them she saw Renard and Chat on the ground.

“Are you two okay?” She asked. She glanced up and saw the smug grin on the akuma’s face.

Chat groaned and stood up. “Yeah, Renard pushed me out of the way of that yellow light just in time.” Then he looked at Lila. “Do you know what it does?”

She opened her mouth to answer when Renard stood up and yelled, “I know Chat Noir’s civilian identity! He’s Adrhfpmf –”

Chat quickly covered Renard’s mouth and looked at him with wide eyes. “What are you doing?”

Lila saw the akuma aim her staff once more. “Chat Noir! The akuma!”

Chat saw the akuma and jumped out of the way just in time, still holding onto Renard, one hand covering his mouth. “What’s going on?”

“That light! It must make you tell the truth!” Lila said, figuring out the akuma’s power.

Chat looked back down at Renard. Then he looked back at Lila and she saw something in his eyes.

 He was afraid.

“This isn’t good. I can’t risk having him say anything!”

At that moment Renard struggled free from his grip. “My name is Na –”

Chat tackled him to the ground. “Shut up shut up!” He screeched, covering his mouth with both hands now. “What am I going to do?” He said to himself. Lila could see the concern in his eyes as he looked down at his partner. “I can’t do this by myself.”

“Soon all men will tell the truth!” The akuma declared, lifting her staff and pointing it at Chat, who was busy trying to keep Renard pinned down.

Lila acted on instinct. She ran towards the akuma and dove in front of Chat. Then she flicked her wrist and let the fan spread out before her.

The akuma laughed at her. “What are you going to do with that?”

“I have no idea.” Lila answered. “But I’m going to look good doing it.” She said with more confidence than she really had. She wondered if it was Duusu’s influence.

The akuma bared her teeth and shot out a beam of light. Lila did the only thing she could do –she swiped her fan across her body in one fluid motion, closing her eyes.

“Wh-what? How?” The akuma said. Lila opened her eyes and saw the shock on the akuma’s face. The beam should’ve hit her, but she felt fine. She turned to look at Chat.

“Are you okay? Were you hit because I don’t know what I’ll do if you were.” Lila said quickly. Then she noticed that Chat was also looking at her in surprise.

“No, I – you deflected the light with your fan.” Chat explained.

Lila looked down at her fan with wide eyes. It could do that?

“Oh.” Was all that she managed to say.

“Who are we fighting?” A voice said from above. Lila looked up and saw Ladybug dropping down, yo-yo in hand.

“The black and white one! This girl is on our side!” Chat said.

Ladybug nodded her head and threw her yo-yo out in front on her. Lila watched as it wrapped around the akuma’s staff. The superhero tugged and it flew out of the akuma’s hands. Lila was impressed that she managed to do all that in mid-air.

“NO!” The akuma yelled.

Ladybug landed next to Chat.

“Long time no see, my lady.” Chat said with a wink. Ladybug scoffed and rolled her eyes. Then she saw Renard.

“Um, what are you doing?” She asked, looking back at Chat with a raised brow.

“Oh look it’s Mari-umpf.” Renard began, but Chat tightened his grip on his mouth and moved to sit on him.

“The akuma got him. Now he’s compelled to tell the truth.” Chat explained.

Ladybug’s eyes widened. “This isn’t good.”

“That’s what I said.” Chat replied.

“Give me back my staff, you insect!” The akuma yelled from the middle of the street.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Insect. I’ve never heard _that_ one before.”

Lila was surprised when a laugh escaped her lips. She had hated Ladybug for so long. The spotted superhero represented everything she wasn’t, everything she wanted to be. Ladybug had exposed her as what she was – a liar. But _this_ Ladybug – she wasn’t just a hero behind a mask. She was – she was a girl, just like her.

Ladybug heard Lila laugh and turned her attention towards her. “It looks like my two boys are out of commission for this fight.” She began. Lila saw something flash in her eyes. It almost looked like – excitement. “Care to help me?”

Lila looked at her with wide eyes for a moment, but then she gripped her fan more tightly and nodded her head. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Ladybug is a pro at telling people what to do.” Chat said, still sitting on Renard. Ladybug stuck out her tongue.

“We need to find her akumatized object.” Ladybug explained, looking at the akuma who was having a tantrum in the street.

“It’s not the staff?” Lila asked.

“It’s hardly ever the weapon.” Renard said, wiggling out of Chat’s grip for a moment. Chat sighed and put his hands back on his mouth.

“He speaks the truth.” Chat said. Then he glared at Renard. “Now for the love of god _stop moving_.”

“Okay, find the akumatized object. I can do that.” Lila said, furrowing her brow as she looked at the akuma.

“I also need you to keep her distracted while I summon my lucky charm.” Ladybug added, rubbing her neck. “I know it’s a lot –”

“It’s fine,” Lila interrupted. “I want to help.” She felt excitement buzzing in her chest. This was it. This is what _superheroes_ do. Then she looked at Ladybug. “Let’s do this.”

Ladybug smiled and nodded her head. “Lucky Charm!”

In that same moment Lila rushed the akuma, her fan out in front of her. “You want the truth? Your outfit is horrible. You hear that Hawkmoth? Maybe you should ask Gabriel Agreste for some fashion advice!”

The akuma growled. “You little brat!” Lila saw the outline of a butterfly on the akuma’s face. Good. She wanted Hawkmoth to be mad. After everything he put her through, this was her chance to even the score.

“Be careful, this little brat is about to kick your butt!” Lila said, and she did the only thing she could think of. She jumped on top of the akuma.

“Get off of me!” The akuma screeched, clawing at her. Lila squirmed around until she was on the akuma’s back, her legs wrapped around her waist and her hands pinning the akuma’s arms back. “That’s a cheap move! And you call yourself a hero!”

Lila smiled and leaned towards the akuma’s ear. “Listen up Hawkmoth. I do things _my way_. Don’t forget that.”

Then a wave of energy hit her, blowing her eyes wide. Images flashed across her vision. She saw Ladybug holding a necklace in her hands. She watched as the hero crushed it under her feet, watched as a black butterfly tried to flutter away. Then her sight went back to normal.

“What was that?” Lila breathed, clutching her head with one of her hands. Then she was thrown onto the ground. She forgot that she was on the akuma’s back. Now the woman towered over her, rage in her eyes.

“Uh oh.” Then Lila saw something around the akuma’s neck, something she hadn’t noticed before. It was a necklace, the same necklace she just saw Ladybug crush. Something clicked in her mind.

“Ladybug! I think the akuma is in her necklace!”

The akuma’s eyes filled with even more rage. She reached out her hands to grab Lila when a red blur moved in between them.

“Gotcha.” Lila heard Ladybug say, and when the spotted superhero moved aside she could see that the akuma’s hands were bound by a red and black neck tie.

The akuma screamed in frustration as Ladybug lifted the necklace off of her neck. “You said that this was the akuamtized object?” Ladybug asked, turning to look at Lila.

Lila nodded her head. “At least I think it is.” She watched Ladybug in awe as she crushed it beneath her feet, the butterfly flying out of it. It was just like those images she saw. 

‘What did I do? Was that some sort of power?’ Lila thought to herself, looking at her hands. ‘Can I see the future?’

“Bye bye, little butterfly.”

Lila snapped out of her thoughts and looked back up to watch Ladybug waving goodbye to a white butterfly.

“Hey, could you check on Renard and Chat?” Ladybug asked.

“Yeah, of course.” Lila said, shaking her head. She’d think about her vision later, and what it meant. On her way over to the two other superheroes she heard the familiar words “Miraculous Ladybug!” behind her. Everything went back to normal.

“How is he?” Lila asked, walking up to Chat and looking at Renard, who was clutching his head.

“He’ll be okay.” Chat answered. “Right, buddy?”

Renard groaned and nodded his head. Then he gave Chat a pathetic look. “I know too much.”

Chat laughed a slung an arm around his partner. “I know you do. That’s why it’s a good thing you’re on our side.” He teased, ruffling Renard’s hair.

Renard laughed and gave him a gentle shove. “You never know, I could be a secret double agent.”

“Yeah sure, and I’m Hawkmoth’s son.”

They clutched their sides with laughter. Lila couldn’t help but smile at the scene.

“Thanks for helping us, by the way.” Chat said, looking at Lila. Renard looked at her as well.

She straightened her back a little and tried to look as confident as possible. “I was happy to help, anything to take down Hawkmoth.”

Chat gave her an appreciative nod. Then Ladybug joined them.

“A nice older woman volunteered to take her home.” Ladybug explained, looking back to watch two women walking down the street. “Wow, two akumas back to back today, huh?”

“Yeah, Hawkmoth needs to get a life.” Renard grumbled.

Lila scoffed. “You’re telling me.”

Then all eyes were on her.

“I don’t mean to be impolite,” Ladybug began, “But, well, who are you exactly?”

Lila tried not to blush. There was that question again. ‘Who are you?’ But she was a pro at this. She grew up with reporters asking her questions she didn’t know the answer to. She was used to probing gazes and expectant pauses. But to give these heroes credit, they were a lot kinder than the paparazzi that followed her family around in Italy.

So she did what she always did. She took a deep breath, put on her best smile, and improvised. “I’m Paris’ new hero. I’m here to help.” She declared.

“And what’s your name, mysterious stranger?” Chat asked.

Her name? Oh right, she had to think of a superhero name. Then the familiar Parisian smell of baking bread distracted her for a moment. She felt the coolness of the city breeze, so unlike the humidity of home. She saw the shades of blue shift across her vision.

She knew what her name must be.

“My name is Blu.” She stated. Not the French ‘bleu’, but the Italian ‘blu’, because she needed just a little bit of home.

“Nice to meet you Blu.” Renard said with a smile. “So how’d you get these powers?”

“Oh, uh –” Lila began, trying to find the right way to explain how she found a magical brooch in the street and decided, ‘hey, why not take this thing home?’.

“Renard got them by falling off his roof, so he already has you beat for funniest origin story.” Chat said, grinning. Renard stuck out his tongue.

“Well,” Lila began, puffing out her chest a little. “I’m the new holder of the peacock miraculous.”

Ladybug gave her a wide smile while Chat Noir looked at her in confusion, and then looked at Renard. Lila saw something shift in Renard’s eyes. It looked like recognition, then horror, and then something unreadable.

Then they all heard a beep.

“That’ll be me.” Ladybug said. “See you guys later. And welcome to the team, Blu.” With that she flung her yo-yo and flew towards the next building. Soon she was gone.

Chat was still looking at Renard. “I think I’ll leave too. I’m in desperate need of a cat nap.” He joked, but there was something tense in his eyes. “See you later, Renard. Bye, um, Blu.” He picked up his baton and vaulted away the same direction that Ladybug had left.

Now it was just her and Renard.

“You’re not supposed to have the peacock miraculous.” He said, standing to his feet.

Lila tensed at Renard’s words.

Renard sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry but, I was responsible for the peacock miraculous. I was on my way to take it – somewhere safe – when an akuma attacked. I must have dropped it.”

“Oh.” Lila said quietly. So she wasn’t meant to have it. She _stole_ it. She felt something constrict in her chest.

“If I could _please_ have it back. I’ll close my eyes so I don’t see who you are, but I need it back.” Renard let out another frustrated sigh. “I can’t believe I just _forgot_ about it.”

Lila just continued to stare at him. So this was it. She really wasn’t meant to be a hero. Duusu was wrong about her. She felt the embarrassment heat up her cheeks. How did she ever let herself believe she could be something more?

“I – I understand.” She finally choked out.

Relief washed over Renard’s expression. “ _Thank you_.” He held out his hand and closed his eyes. “And thank you for everything, I messed up and, well, we needed you.”

“You didn’t mess up.” Lila said softly. “You were trying to save Chat Noir.”

Renard laughed a little. “Yeah, he’s not used to people pushing _him_ out of the way.”

Lila looked at him for a moment. This was the hero who saved her from that shadowy figure, who saved her from herself, from Volpina, who stopped by her room in the middle of the night to give her one last parting gift.

“Renard?”

“Yes?” He asked, his eyes still closed and his eyebrows raised.

“Well, I just want to thank you as well. Because I messed up myself not that long ago – and – you helped me. _I_ needed _you_. So thank you, thank you for being a hero. For defending Paris.”

Renard smiled. “Now I’m blushing.”

Lila laughed moved to give him a playful shove, but when she touched him her eyes blew wide. Images flashed across her vision, much like they did when she was clinging to the akuma. She saw the peacock miraculous. She saw a wide room full of white butterflies. Then she saw the last image – and suddenly she could feel her heart in her throat.

It was Renard. He was holding the peacock miraculous – and – and showing it to Hawkmoth. He was handing it over.

“Blu? Are you okay?” Renard asked, opening his eyes.

Lila moved her hand away from his chest like she’d been electrocuted. “I can’t.”

“What?” Renard asked, concern in his eyes.

“I can’t give it to you.” She said, taking a step back.

Renard realized what she was trying to say. “No, Blu, you _have_ to.”

Lila shook her head. “Hawkmoth, I – I –” She was still rattled by the vision. She couldn’t believe that Renard would betray Paris, but she saw it with her own eyes. She could feel herself shaking. She wanted to see Nathanael.

“Is he controlling you? Are you – are you working with him?” Renard asked, narrowing his eyes. She could hear the hurt in his tone. Or was he just pretending?

Lila didn’t know how to respond, so she did the only thing she could – she ran.

“Hey! Wait!” Renard called after her. She ducked into an alley.

‘I need to get away. I need to see Nathanael.’ Lila thought to herself. She ran down the alley when she saw that it was a dead end. “No no no no.” She kept running, wishing she could disappear, wishing she could fly –

And suddenly, she was.

She floated up into the air until she came to rest at the top of the building. She looked around in shock.

“I can’t let you have that miraculous!” Renard yelled. She saw him running down the alley and pulling out his grappling hook.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, and then she ran across the buildings, flying, jumping, until she could see the park.

She jumped down to the street.

“Duusu? Can I please go back to normal?” She asked softly. Soon the transformation melted off of her.

“What a dramatic display!” Duusu declared, clasping his hands. “You definitely don’t lack flair, I’ll give you that.” He added with a wink.

Lila slid down the wall and sat down, taking deep breaths.

“Honey, are you okay?” Duusu asked, resting on her knee.

“I _trusted_ him, and he’s he’s –”

‘He’s working for Hawkmoth.’

Maybe the akuma was right about men.

“Lila,” Duusu said, floating up to look her in the eyes. “You saw the future, didn’t you?”

Lila nodded her head. “Is that normal?”

The kwami laughed. “Yes, it does kind of come with the job description. But it’s not always reliable. It doesn’t always mean what you think. And sometimes it comes when it’s too late.” He said that second part softly, and Lila was tempted to ask him about it, but then his eyes brightened once more. “So how did it feel to be a superhero?”

Lila couldn’t help but smile. “It felt amazing.”

“You’re lucky. You got the best miraculous of the lot.” Duusu said, puffing out his chest a little.

Then Lila looked down at her lap. “I think it was a mistake that I found it.” She admitted.

Duusu put a tiny paw on her cheek and waited for her to look at him. “There are many paths in life, Lila, but there are never mistakes.”

Lila felt a warmth in her chest. “Thanks, Duusu.” Then she gasped. “Nathanael!” She quickly got up and ran back towards the park. The bench was empty. She sat down and looked at the street, wondering if something happened to him.

She was about to get up and look for him when she spotted that familiar head of hair. Duusu moved to hide inside her bag. She sighed in relief as he ran up to her.

“What took you so long?” She asked.

“Sorry it was crazy there, you should’ve seen that akuma.” Nathanael breathed, hands on his knees. But Lila noticed that he didn’t look that out of breath. Actually, she saw muscles in his arms that weren’t there before. Had he been working out when she was in Italy?

“I’m guessing you stepped in and saved the day? You used to have a track record of that, if I remember correctly.”

Nathanael chuckled and sat back down next to her. “Not at all. I might’ve made it harder for them, actually.”

“I don’t believe that.”

Nathanael sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Lila noticed how tired he looked.

“Hey, be so hard on yourself.” She said, taking hold of his hand and giving it a squeeze.

“I know it’s just –” Nathanael began, “things have gotten complicated since you left.”

The look in his eyes told Lila that she shouldn’t press him for an explanation. “Well I’m here now.”

Nathanael looked at her and smiled. “Yes. You are.” He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.

Comfort. That’s what Nathanael was to her. Being with him, she could almost forget that she was a hero now, that Renard might be working for Hawkmoth, that it might be up to her to stop him. She moved closer to him and put her head on her shoulder.

“Hey Nathanael?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we stay like this for a bit?”

Nathanael put an arm around her and held her close. “If it was up to me, we’d stay like this forever.”

Lila smiled and hummed in agreement. And yet they both knew that that was impossible.

There was a whole future ahead of them.


	5. Where the Sidewalk Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter has been a long time coming, but school has been really kicking my butt lol. I haven't had any time to write and it's really been bumming me out, so I'm glad that I was able to write the next chapter finally!
> 
> I hope you guys like it and are having wonderful weekends! <3

To Nathanael the past was like humid air that stuck to his clothes and pressed uncomfortably against his skin. It was too sticky, too demanding.

Ever since that night with Volpina hazes of memory would wrap around him at unexpected moments, filling his lungs and eyes with its oppressive warmth. Tonight was one of those moments.

He was on his way to meet up with Ladybug and Chat Noir for patrol when tendrils of memory floated across his vision, knitting together to create a scene around him. He was used to this by now – the past always came to meet him when he had a lot on his mind.

He slowed his run across the rooftops until he came to a stop at the edge of a building. He stood up straighter, ready for whatever his miraculous needed to show him.

_A moment later he was standing in a ballroom of sorts. Colorful gowns and monochrome suits danced across his vision as he tried to adjust to the lights and the music and the laughter, much different from the quiet, dim Parisian night._

_“A fox mask, huh? How fitting.” A voice said from behind him. He turned and saw a young lady in a deep blue dress and a mask to match. A smirk spread across her lips._

_“I see we meet again. I don’t think I quite remember your name.” Nathanael said, reaching out his hand. But it wasn’t him, rather the past chosen who had spoken. His voice sounded distinctly male. And older, maybe a man in his later teens._

_The mystery woman lifted her arm and flicked her wrist, a fan spreading across her face to conceal her expression. Nathanael noticed how the design was made to look like peacock feathers. “That’s because I didn’t offer it.”_

_The chosen put down his hand and leaned against the pillar closest to him. Nathanael saw his reflection in a nearby mirror. It was weird to see brown hair and brown eyes staring back. “You seem to have a history of being difficult, I can’t seem to forget that.”_

_“Personally I’m more concerned about the future.” The woman replied. Nathanael could only see her large blue eyes and a curl of black hair. “Care to dance?”_

_The chosen chuckled and held out his hand once more. The girl accepted it and they moved away from the edge of the room towards the middle of the dance floor._

_“Is there at least_ something _I can call you?” The chosen asked, placing a hand on her waist as he led them in a simple step sequence._

_She furrowed her brow in thought. “Lady Blue.”_

_“Oh so you’re a lady?” The chosen teased. The girl just smiled._

_“You can call me Kit.” The chosen said, twirling her. “Short for Kitsune.” He added with a wink._

_The girl scoffed. “You must think you’re so clever.”_

_Kit leaned in and whispered, “I’ve got to stay true to my miraculous. You know how it is.” He looked down at her fan._

_“So I’m guessing we’re here tonight for the same reason.” Lady Blue observed._

_Kit dipped her and smiled, then his eyes surveyed the room as he spoke. “His miraculous must be here somewhere, and I won’t let that scumbag gangster get ahold of it.”_

_Lady Blue stood up, looking at somewhere behind Kit. “There.”_

_Kit turned to see where she was looking, and his eyes fell upon a man with a white brooch on his lapel. He saw the familiar shape of butterfly wings, and the purple gem in the center. He let out a huff of annoyance and rolled up his sleeves. “I hate when people take things that don’t belong to them.”_

_“Wait.” Lady Blue said, putting a hand on his chest to stop him._

_Kit looked down at her in confusion._

_“Let me handle this.” She said, snapping her fan shut, a look of determination in her eyes._

_“Monarque asked_ me _to do this. And no offense, but I don’t really know who you are.”_

_“Do you need to know my identity to know who I am?” She asked. Kit opened his mouth to answer, but when no words came Lady Blue sighed and dropped her hand. “I may not know your name, but I know that you’re a good person. I know that I can trust you. I’m asking for you to trust me. I can do this.”_

_Kit looked at her. “I’m not used to trusting people.” He said. “It hasn’t really worked out for me in the past.”_

_“You’re never going to move forward if you keep looking back.” She replied simply. Then she looked away from him. “He’s on the move.”_

_He watched as the man with the miraculous was making his way into the hallway. They couldn’t afford to lose track of him. His partner was depending on him. He was about to take a step forward when he hesitated and looked back at Lady Blue. “Are you sure about this?”_

_Lady Blue smiled and nodded her head. “I can promise you that I will get that miraculous back.”_

_Kit’s eyes lingered on her for a moment, searching for something, and then he sighed. “Do you think you can meet me outside in ten minutes?”_

_“I’ll only need five.” She said, and with that she hurried in the direction of the man until they were both out of sight._

_Kit reached up to touch his chest, where his miraculous was hidden underneath his shirt._

The memory started to dissolve and soon Nathanael was looking at the dark Parisian skyline. He furrowed his brow in thought.

_‘Who was it this time?’_ Yishu asked. Nathanael could hear a note of nervousness in her voice. She never liked explaining the sad stories. And there seemed to be a lot of sad stories.

“Kitsune. He was with the holder of the peacock miraculous. There was a ball, and masks, and a brooch –”

_‘Kit.’_ Yishu said, and Nathanael could hear the fondness in her voice. _‘He was partners with Monarque, the butterfly miraculous holder, but sometimes –’_

“What?”

Yishu hummed in amusement. _‘Kit and Lady Blue had a habit of running into each other.’_

“Yeah, who was she?” Nathanael asked, leaping off the roof to land on the next building. He figured that he should probably make his way to the Eiffel Tower before his friends started to worry.

_‘Kit never found out. They never revealed their identities to each other.’_ Yishu said softly.

“You sound sad.”

Nathanael could hear her sigh. _‘I think they were in love.’_

Nathanael almost tripped on one of the roof tiles. “Then why didn’t they do anything about it? If they loved each other then why didn’t one of them say anything?”

_‘Even heroes are not brave all of the time. They can leap over buildings – but a leap of faith? That was not something that Kit was very used to.’_ Yishu paused _. ‘Monarque and Kit grew up in an orphanage together, and they learned that it was them against the world. I tried to show him that the world was kinder than that, but understandably it took some time.’_

“So why did my miraculous show me this memory? What was I supposed to learn?”

_‘What do_ you _think?’_

Nathanael could see the Eiffel Tower not too far in the distance, and stopped to pull out his grappling hook. “Someone took a miraculous who wasn’t supposed to have it.” He stated, still looking at the tower. “So it’s telling me that I need to find it right? That even though it’s not my miraculous, I need to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, like Kit.”

_‘Do you think that is_ all _that the miraculous is saying?’_ Yishu asked gently.

Nathanael groaned and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Kit trusted Lady Blue, even though he didn’t know who she was behind the mask. Even though he never found out her identity, they still worked together.” Nathanael looked down at his grappling hook, and then he dropped his arm. “So am I supposed to trust this girl that I _just met_? Is she Lady Blue in this situation? Or is she that man with the butterfly miraculous?” He waved his arms in exasperation. Why did the past have to be so confusing?

Could he – could he be wrong about Blu?

“It’s not about who you are, but what you do.” Nathanael said, taking a deep breath. That’s what his miraculous was trying to tell him, or at least that was his best guess. “I don’t think I can trust her right now, but maybe – maybe I can give her a chance. At least I can try.”

Yishu hummed in approval.

Nathanael lifted up his grappling hook and pointed it at the Eiffel Tower, but then he hesitated. “Yishu? What happened to Kit?”

_‘Well, together Kit and Monarque took down Al Capone.’_

“Al Capone? I thought the government busted him on tax evasion.” Nathanael said, failing to keep the shock out of his voice.

_‘But who do you think gathered all of the evidence?’_ Yishu said _. ‘They tried to stay anonymous, but people who were close to Capone found out that they were responsible for his incarceration. They were not safe anymore, so they decided to do what they always planned.’_

“What was that?”

_‘They used the money that the government gave them for their help, and hopped on the next boat to Europe.’_

“But what about Lady Blue?”

_‘He did not know how to find her, so he never got the chance to say goodbye.’_ Yishu said softly. _‘So they traveled around Europe, discovered how big the world really was, and right before World War II began they met a young girl who had just left her orphanage for good.’_

“Alice?” Nathanael said quietly, images of a war torn Paris still fresh in his mind.

_‘Kit did not want to give me up, to trust me with another person, but when he looked into her eyes he saw himself. He saw a kid who was dying to prove herself, to find her place in the world. A kid who knew she was meant for more than what she was given. He saw the future.’_ Yishu said, and Nathanael could picture the small smile on her face.

“He never got over Lady Blue, did he?”

_‘I do not think he did. But whatever he and Monarque did after Kit gave me to Alice, they were happy. I_ know _they were.’_

“A happy ending.” Nathanael mused, smiling to himself. He lifted up his grappling hook once more and pulled the trigger. And as he flew through the air he promised himself one thing:

He never wanted to live with regrets.

He landed lightly on the Eiffel Tower and could hear voices not too far away from where he was standing. He peered over one of the metal bars and saw Ladybug and Chat Noir sitting side by side, Chat waving his arms as he told some story while Ladybug was hiding a laugh behind her hand.

Nathanael smiled, and then he remembered flashes of blue eyes and long looks.

‘Kit never had the chance to say goodbye. He never even knew her name.’ Nathanael thought to himself. Maybe there was more than one lesson to be learned from that memory.

Maybe his miraculous was showing him what happened when people hid behind masks. Not just the masks that fused to their skin when they transformed, but the ones that were preventing his two friends from taking that leap.

Yishu was right, even heroes were afraid of falling.

“Sorry I’m late, although it doesn’t seem like you missed me all that much.” Nathanael observed, walking carefully across the beams and sitting next to Chat. He could see a light blush form on his cheeks as he rubbed his neck.

Ladybug rolled her eyes and smiled. “Chat was just telling me about how you crushed him in Mecha Strike today. I’m going to have to see if you’re as good as he says you are.”

Nathanael laughed. “I’m probably not. Maybe some of your luck has just rubbed off on me.”

“That’s not fair, why haven’t you given _me_ any of your luck?” Chat Noir accused, a small pout on his face.

“You’re friends with me, isn’t that lucky enough?” Ladybug teased.

Chat Noir’s expression softened. “Yeah, I guess I am pretty lucky.”

Ladybug opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she looked down at her lap and smiled. “Well I’m lucky to have you too.” She admitted. Then she looked up at Nathanael. “Both of you. I feel like this summer has definitely been a bonding experience.”

Nathanael groaned and leaned back on his hands, looking at the skyline in front of him. “I feel like I’ve been Renard more than I’ve been Nathanael these past few weeks. Hawkmoth really needs to get a new hobby. One that doesn’t involve terrorizing innocent people and preventing me from spending time with Lila.”

“Wait,” Chat began, sitting up a little. “Is Lila back?”

Now it was Nathanael’s turn to blush and look at his lap. “Yeah, she came by my house to surprise me. We were in the park when the akuma showed up.”

“Nathanael! That’s great!” Ladybug exclaimed. “I mean, not the akuma attack and everything because two in one day is really excessive and all and you got zapped with that truth beam and –” Then she realized that she was getting off topic and smiled a little sheepishly before saying, “I’m just happy that she’s back.”

“Me too.” Nathanael said with a small smile. Then he sighed. “But then after the akuma attack I had so much on my mind that I couldn’t be in the moment. I think she knew it too, she seemed a little off.” He hung his head.

Chat put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You guys haven’t seen each other in two months, you just need to ease back into everything.”

“Yeah, you guys are allowed to take your time.” Ladybug said. Nathanael couldn’t help but notice her look at Chat for a moment.

“And how are you guys – adjusting – you know, to all this?” Nathanael asked, gesturing vaguely at the two of them.

Ladybug smiled and flicked Chat’s bell playfully. “It’s still a little weird seeing each other as our civilian selves, but It’s been nice. It feels…right.”

“When we went to the movies with Nino and Alya last week I had to stop myself from calling her My Lady.” Chat admitted.

Ladybug giggled. “Yeah, that would’ve been _so bad_.”

They both erupted into a fit of laughter, and Nathanael watched as they leaned into each other. They didn’t seem to realize it, but something always drew them together, pulling them closer to each other.

Maybe a small part of them did know.

“I’m sorry that I have to go into hero mode for a second, but I think we should talk about what happened today.” Nathanael said, taking a deep breath.

Ladybug and Chat Noir turned their attention towards him.

“I’m guessing that Chat told you about the miraculous in his dad’s safe?”

Ladybug nodded her head. “I still want to know why it was there in the first place.”

Chat shrugged his shoulders. “There’s a lot of things I want to ask Father, but I never get the chance. He’s always holed up in his office.”

Ladybug looked at him and gave him a comforting nudge. He quirked his lips into a grateful smile, then he looked at Nathanael. “So I’m guessing the miraculous didn’t make its way to Master Fu?”

Nathanael ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’m so sorry guys, it must have fallen out of my bag when the akuma put me on that roller coaster ride. It was my responsibility and I messed up.”

“It’s alright, Renard. There was nothing you could do.” Ladybug reassured him.

“But I just forgot about it!” Nathanael exclaimed. “It’s like, whenever I stop thinking about that miraculous for a few minutes, it just completely slips my mind.”

“That keeps happening to me too.” Chat said, shifting on the beam. “I totally forgot about it until we met Blu. And sometimes I almost forget what it looks like.”

Ladybug furrowed her brow in thought. “There must be some magic tied to the miraculous that we’ve never seen before. We should ask Master Fu.”

“I can’t wait to tell him that some random citizen found one of the miraculouses and now we have a new, anonymous hero in Paris.” Nathanael said a little bitterly, crossing his arms. “And who knows if she’s even a hero? When I asked her to give it back, she was _this_ close, but then she said something about Hawkmoth and ran away.”

“That’s –” Ladybug began, hesitating to find the right word.

“ – suspicious.” Chat said.

“But she seems like she wanted to help us. She didn’t seem like a villain.” Ladybug pointed out.

“I know, I just don’t think I can handle being manipulated, not again.” Nathanael confessed.

Chat scooted closer to him. “Hey, we’re not going to let that happen. We have each other’s backs. And I’m looking forward to the day when you get to punch Hawkmoth in the face. I’ll even get Alya to take pictures.”

Nathanael smiled, then his expression grew serious once more. “I think the best thing to do is to talk to Master Fu.”

Chat Noir nodded his head in agreement. “I think all three of us should go together. I feel like there’s a lot of things we should ask, especially since we all know our identities now.”

“I agree. How about tomorrow? I’m done helping Maman and Papa with the bakery at two.”

“I have about an hour in between my photo shoot and fencing practice at 2:15.”

“And I’m free until four. Lila wants to take me somewhere.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both raised their eyebrows at that, and it was obvious that they were trying to hold back their grins.

Nathanael rolled his eyes and smiled. “So I’ll stop by the bakery at 2? And then Chat you can meet us there once you’re done with the shoot?”

“Perfect.”

“Works for me.”

“Okay.” Nathanael said, moving to stand up. “Now I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t think I can sit still right now. Are you up for doing a lap around the city?”

Ladybug stood up as well, offering her hand to Chat. “What do you say, kitty?”

Chat grinned and pulled himself up. “As long as you two can keep – hey!” He yelled, watching as Nathanael was already running across the nearest building. “Why are you two like this?” He asked, turning to face Ladybug, but she was gone.

“Hey!” Nathanael yelled, trying to keep himself from face planting. “We’re resorting to tripping now?!” He called after Ladybug, who was cackling maniacally as she gained some distance in front of Nathanael.

“What can I say? Ever since I became Ladybug I learned how to be resourceful. I just thought you’d be quicker on your feet, Renard.” Ladybug teased. Then a dark shadow dropped in front of her, and as she lost her balance it grabbed her waist so she wouldn’t fall over.

“Did I surprise you, LB?” Chat said, a wide grin on his face as he looked down at his partner.

Nathanael watched from the ground a few feet away as Ladybug tried to hide her blush.

“You always surprise me.” Ladybug said, a small smile on her face. Then she grabbed his staff and extended it, shooting into the air until she landed on the next building. She continued to run, her pig tails flapping behind her and Chat’s staff still in her hand.

“Hey I need that!” Chat yelled, then he went over and helped Nathanael up. “Alliance?” He asked.

Nathanael grinned. “Let’s do this.” He put an arm around Chat and lifted his grappling hook. With incredible aim it attached to the building in front of Ladybug. Together they flew through the air, and Chat made sure to stick his tongue out once they passed their partner, a shocked expression on her face.

Nathanael couldn’t seem to bite back his smile as he moved forward in the air.

Through all of the bad, through all of the twists and turns and confusion and mistakes, at least he knew there was always one direction he could go.

Onward.


	6. My Future Will Not Copy Fair My Past

There had been some rainy days towards the end of the spring, but Nathanael’s mural still looked more or less like it did when he first showed it to Adrien and Marinette.

He could feel the proud smile spreading across his face as he looked at it from his place on the sidewalk. Ladybug, Chat Noir, Renard. All together, all smiling, all hopeful.

These past three months being a superhero hadn’t been easy, Nathanael would admit, but seeing his superhero self smiling back at him lifted his spirits a little. He was doing okay.

Yeah, he was doing okay.

“I look at this every morning before I leave.” Marinette said, looping an arm through his like she always did. “It’s beautiful, Nathanael. It always reminds me of what this is all about, you know?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Nathanael said, still looking at the mural. _Friendship. Love. Teamwork._ Things that Hawkmoth didn’t understand. Things that needed to be protected.

Marinette sighed, and Nathanael glanced at her. He watched as she looked at Chat Noir grinning back at her, the fondest smile in the world on her face. A moment later she caught him looking at her, failing to hold back his smirk. “What?” She asked, a blush spreading on her cheeks.

Nathanael shrugged, trying to compose his face into a neutral expression. “Nothing.” Then he paused for a moment. “Do you think I got Chat Noir’s likeness alright? I was going for his usual cheesiness with a subtle nod to Adrien’s more subdued personality.” He said, biting his lip. He just couldn’t resist.

Marinette looked back at the mural a little dreamily. “I think he looks perfect.” She admitted. Then her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands. “I – I mean, he – you – you did a good job, uh, with the paint and the – uh, your art is good. Very good.”

Nathanael looked at her and raised his eyebrow. “Thanks?”

Marinette sighed and slumped her shoulders. “I’m such a dork.”

Nathanael laughed and poked Marinette’s cheek. “Come on, Mari, I already know you like him, remember? I figured that out _ages_ ago.”

Marinette’s blush deepened. “But it’s _different_ now. Now I know he’s Chat Noir.”

“So you don’t like him anymore?” Nathanael asked, even though he knew the answer to that one.

“Of course not!” Marinette exclaimed, waving her arms. Then she tugged on her hair and mumbled, “if anything that makes me like him even more.”

Nathanael smiled.

“What?” Marinette asked, exasperated.

“This is the curse of an artist.” Nathanael sighed, walking up to his mural and putting a gentle hand on the wall. “We’re great at making these spectacular fantasies in our head, of allowing ourselves to dream in a way other people wouldn’t dare,” he dropped his hand and turned to look at Marinette. “But then when our dreams become a reality, we don’t always know what to do.”

“You think?” Marinette asked, scrunching her brow in thought.

Nathanael shrugged. “It may not be true for everyone, but that’s what happened to me, at least. I dreamed about being a superhero for so long, about being closer to you, that when it finally happened it took some major adjustments.”

“So I need to make some major adjustments?”

Nathanael ran a hand through his hair. “Not necessarily. The problem here is not how you or Adrien change, but how your _relationship_ changes. You both have been dancing around each other for so long, without even realizing it. Maybe it’s time to see what happens when you meet each other in the middle.” Then he got embarrassed and looked away. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be telling you guys what to do. It’s just hard since you’re both my friends and we’re all superheroes and we’ve been together so much of the time – but it’s not my place –”

“I _want_ your advice, Nathanael.” Marinette said, putting her hands on his shoulders and gently turning him so that he was facing the mural once more. “Your place is right here.” She said, pointing to where Renard was standing with Ladybug and Chat Noir. “And you’re not telling us what to do, you know how stubborn I can be.” Marinette said with a giggle. “You’re just offering your perspective, and I appreciate that.”

“Okay, but if I overstep my boundaries in any way – ”

Marinette held up a hand and smiled. “I will let you know.” Then she wrung her hands nervously. “But I think you’re right. Chat – Adrien – he and I are trying our best to adjust, but I don’t think we’re getting anywhere. We wanted to take it slow but – what I really want to do is, well –”

Nathanael watched as Marinette stood up straighter, putting a fist in one of her hands. “I want to tell Adrien how I feel about him.”

“And how _do_ you feel about me, Princess?” A voice said behind them, feigning innocence. Marinette yelped and grabbed onto Nathanael’s sleeve. Nathanael turned and saw Adrien looking at them, an easy smile on his face. But Nathanael could tell there was a certain pinkness to his cheeks, a nervousness in the way he put his hands in his pockets.

Nathanael wondered how much Adrien had heard.

“I - I well,” Marinette began, putting her hand on the back of her head and laughing nervously. Then she took a deep breath and dropped her arm. Nathanael watched as she walked up to Adrien, Adrien looking down at her with wide eyes.

“Adrien.”

“Yes…?” Adrien practically winced. Nathanael could tell that he had no idea what was going on. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Oblivious cat. He would’ve thought Adrien had watched enough anime to know what was about to happen. He wished he brought cherry blossom petals to throw into the wind. That would’ve added to the production value.

Determined blue eyes met uncertain green ones. “I like you.” Marinette said.

“I like you too…” Adrien said, shifting on the balls of his feet.

Then Marinette looked down and tugged at her pigtail. Nathanael could see that she was losing her nerve.

Adrien looked up and caught Nathanael’s eye. Nathanael smacked his forehead with his hand and gestured aggressively at Marinette, trying to communicate what Adrien was failing to understand.

But they had to do this on their own.

“Kitty, I – you’re one of my best friends.” Marinette began. “I trust you with my life. You know just what to say to make me laugh, you encourage me when I’m unsure, and you aren’t afraid to point out when I mess up.” She paused to take a breath. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you, ever since you gave me your umbrella in the rain, ever since you told me that all you wanted was a friend. And we became friends, and our friendship is one of the most important things to me. So important that I’ve been afraid –”

“Afraid of what?” Adrien asked softly. He looked prepared – like he knew that in this moment his heart would either be broken, or would know a joy it’s never known before.

“To tell you – oh,” Marinette began, frustrated, “to tell you that I want to be more than friends with you!” She finally said, clenching her fists and looking at the ground.

“More than…really?” Adrien asked, mouth open in shock. Marinette only nodded her head, still not looking at him. “My lad – Marinette.” Adrien began, lifting up her face so that she was looking at him. “I want to be more than friends too. I – I want to hold hands with you and go to the Eiffel Tower with you – not because we’re on patrol, but because we’re two teenagers who want to explore Paris together. I want play video games and joke around and learn how to make pastries and make you smile.” Adrien stopped for a moment, his face red and his eyes shining. “I will give you a thousand umbrellas for a thousand rainy days. No – a million. I’ll give you an umbrella for every rainy day for the rest of our lives.”

Marinette looked up at him in shock. Then she smiled and giggled behind her hand. “That’s a lot of umbrellas.”

Adrien beamed at her. “One of them will have ladybugs on it.”

“Deal.” Marinette said, holding out her hand. Adrien held it in one of his own, and then placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand.

“Looks like we’re going on a double date then.” Nathanael said, clapping his hands together. “You and Marinette, me and Master Fu.” Then he paused, shaking his head. “That didn’t sound as wrong in my head.”

Adrien laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Master Fu is quite the looker, but I think you’re a little too young for him.”

“And we don’t want Lila getting jealous.” Marinette teased, coming to stand next to Adrien. He gave her a fist bump.

Nathanael beamed at the two of them. They finally decided to leap. They finally let go of the breath they had both been holding ever since they found out each other’s identities.

“Oh, hey, would you look at that!” Adrien said, looking at the wall. Marinette and Nathanael looked at it as well. “We recreated the mural.”

The three of them looked at each other, and then erupted into a fit of laughter.

Nathanael didn’t think his heart could feel more full, and yet it always found a way.

 

 

Nathanael had always assumed that Yishu and Master Fu’s kwami would get along really well, but apparently he was wrong.

“You don’t have to drink the tea if you don’t like it.” Wayzz said, lifting up his chin and looking away from Yishu. Nathanael watched as Plagg and Tikki looked at each other.

“Here we go again.” Plagg mumbled under his breath. Tikki had on a nervous smile.

“I never said that I did not like the tea. I simply said that it is not what I am used to. I have been stuck in my box for over seventy years, if you have forgotten. This tea tastes different.”

“Come on, Yishu, you’ve never liked tea. Back in the 1700s when you saw Plagg’s chosen throwing tea into the harbor you just _had_ to meet her.”

Plagg chuckled. “That was a good time.” Then Tikki nudged him. Plagg nodded his head in understanding and stuffed a large piece of cheese in his mouth.

“I swear every time we are together I have to try not to offend you.”

“Well every time we’re together you always seem to disapprove of something that I do.”

“I am not disapproving of anything!” Yishu exclaimed. “Wayzz, I just have a catching up to do, okay? Each time is so different, and you know how curious I get.”

“I wouldn’t use the word ‘curious’.” Wayzz mumbled.

“Fine. I do not like the tea!” Yishu exclaimed.

“Okay!” Wayzz yelled back.

“Okay!”

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, silence hanging heavily between them.

Nathanael watched with wide eyes. They _really_ didn’t get along. He was beginning to wonder just how long this tense silence would last, and if he should do something about it, when Wayzz cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s – it’s okay that you don’t like the tea. It’s not my favorite anyway.” The kwami mumbled, looking into his tiny tea cup.

Yishu gave him a soft smile. “It is not the worst tea I have ever had. And I am sorry, I should have just been honest about not liking it.”

Nathanael shifted slightly from where he was seated by the table, looking down at the kwamis in front of him. “Um…what just happened?”

Tikki glanced at him, and then floated over to his shoulder. “Wayzz and Yishu tend to argue a lot. It’s just in their nature.” She whispered.  “Wayzz represents wisdom, consistency. Yishu represents resourcefulness and change. Sometimes it’s hard to understand someone who is so different, and yet, at the same time, so similar.”

“So they’re…enemies?” Nathanael asked.

Tikki smiled and shook her head. “Not at all.”

Nathanael was even more confused now, but Tikki moved back to her spot next to Plagg before he was able to ask any more questions.

Then Master Fu walked into the room, Marinette and Adrien carrying in trays behind him.

“Thank you for keeping the kwamis company, Nathanael.” Master Fu said as he sat down across from him, a glint in his eye. Now Nathanael understood why Master Fu had asked him to wait here while Adrien and Marinette helped him bring in the tea – he wanted Nathanael to keep an eye on Yishu and Wayzz.

Adrien and Marinette took the two empty seats across from each other, and Marinette began to pour tea into everyone’s glasses.

“Thank you, Ladybug.” Master Fu said. Marinette looked up and smiled. “So there is a new hero in the possession of the peacock miraculous.”

“So you already know?” Adrien asked, a little amazed. “Marinette wasn’t kidding when she said you were all wise, and, you know…” Adrien said, looking at his teacup nervously. On the way here he had explained that this was his first time he was officially meeting Master Fu. Nathanael could tell that he wanted to prove himself, even though Nathanael knew that Master Fu was already impressed – he wouldn’t have chosen Adrien to be Chat Noir otherwise.

“He’s a ladyblogger, that’s how he keeps tabs on all of us.” Nathanael explained, sipping his tea. “Wayzz told me himself.”

Master Fu glanced at Wayzz, who gave him a sheepish smile. Then he looked back at the teenagers sitting around him. “Yes, I may be old, but I _have_ learned the art of social media.” He said with pride.

Nathanael noticed Marinette giggle into her tea cup. Master Fu noticed as well. “You know, people used to think I was mysterious and all-knowing.” He looked at Wayzz once more. “I blame you.”

Wayzz smiled. “I think the Hawaiian shirts are to blame, master.”

Master Fu gave Adrien a questioning look, and Adrien gave him a sheepish smile, affirming what Wayzz said to be true.

Master Fu’s gaze softened. “We can talk about my fashion choices another time.” He said. “But right now I believe the three of you want guidance.”

Adrien, Marinette, and Nathanael all nodded their heads, clutching their tea cups.

“Although this situation is…unusual, this is not the first time something like this has happened.” Master Fu began.

Nathanael felt something loosen in his chest. So this has happened before, maybe he wasn’t a complete screw up. He could fix this.

“So what do we do?” Marinette asked.

“Sadly there is not much you _can_ do.” Master Fu said.

Nathanael looked down at the table, his hair falling around his face. That thing in his chest constricted once more. ‘I really messed up this time.’ He thought to himself.

“Renard.” Master Fu said. Nathanael looked up at him, already feeling the shame and guilt expanding inside of him. He didn’t think he could handle Master Fu’s disappointment. “The past is a complicated thing, is it not?”

Nathanael looked at him in confusion. He had told Master Fu everything that happened on the Arc de Triomphe – how his miraculous started to glow even though Yishu wasn’t with him, how he began to see the memories of past chosen, how he was able to show Volpina memories and get through to Lila. He even told him how he still gets flashes of the past every once in a while. But he didn’t understand why he was bringing it up now.

Master Fu noticed his confusion and smiled. “The past is complicated, but it is also consistent, immovable. One cannot change the past. But the _future_ , however,” He said, lifting his tea cup, “the future is always changing. It’s not meant to be understood, until it is the past, that is.”

Nathanael was still confused. When he glanced at Adrien and Marinette he could tell that they were confused as well.

“Much like how the fox miraculous depends on the past, the peacock miraculous uses the future.” Wayzz explained. “Similar to how the ladybug and black cat miraculouses are opposites, so are these two miraculouses.”

“The peacock miraculous probably didn’t like being around you very much Nathanael, so you’re not to blame for losing track of it. It is very unpredictable.” Master Fu said. “And that is why there is not much we can do about this new hero. The chosen of the peacock miraculous is usually one step ahead of the people around them.”

Nathanael was relieved that Master Fu didn’t blame him for what happened to the miraculous, but he couldn’t help but still feel like he should do something to make up for it. “We could at least try though, right?”

“I agree, the three of us can work together to get it back.” Adrien said. “It doesn’t seem like it would be too hard.”

“But is taking the miraculous away from her really the right thing to do? I mean, she hasn’t done anything wrong.” Marinette pointed out.

“But we were tested, we were _chosen_. What if she’s not meant to be a hero? What if she’s working for Hawkmoth?” Nathanael asked.

“There are many possibilities,” Master Fu said, “many paths that could be taken. It’s up to you three to decide what path that may be, and even then the consequences are unclear.” He set down his cup and looked at each of them. “I cannot tell you what to do, but my advice is that you give this girl a chance to prove herself. I did not get the opportunity to test her, but maybe she has already been tested in another way. And Duusuu is picky, he wouldn’t let just anyone use the power of his miraculous.”

Wayzz rolled his eyes at the mention of Duusuu and sipped his tea. “Very true, master.”

“I have a question,” Adrien asked, furrowing his brow. “Even though Nathanael and I saw the miraculous and talked about it, we noticed that we kept forgetting about it. Why is that?”

Master Fu didn’t meet Adrien’s eyes and looked at the far wall instead. “I believe that that is the previous holder’s doing.”

“So not only did she make everyone forget about her and Papillon Blanc, but she made it harder for people to find her miraculous.” Nathanael stated.

“Yes. She didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands, especially not Hawkmoth’s.” Master Fu explained.

“But I don’t understand,” Adrien said. “Why did she just _leave_? Her partner needed her, _Paris_ needed her, how could she turn her back on all those people?”

Master Fu looked at him sadly. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but instead looked away and said, “She had her reasons.”

Nathanael knew that Adrien wanted to argue, but instead he held his cup tighter and said, “I would never leave either of you, no matter what.”

Marinette smiled. “We know kitty. And we wouldn’t leave you either.”

“Never.” Nathanael agreed.

Adrien let go of his tea cup. “I have to go get ready for fencing practice.” He said, moving to stand. “It was nice meeting you, Master Fu.” He added, but Nathanael could tell that he was still frustrated.

Master Fu smiled. “It probably was not as nice as you expected.” Then he paused, looking conflicted. “Plume – she loved Papillon Blanc. She was willing to do anything to save him. I feel like it is important for you to know that.”

Adrien looked away. “If she loved him that much she would’ve stayed. She wouldn’t have given up on him.”

Nathanael couldn’t help but agree. “Lila just needed to know that someone was there for her, that there was someone who was going to help her, no matter what.”

“Maybe Papillon Blanc just needed to know that he wasn’t alone.” Marinette said a little quietly.

“Perhaps you are right.” Master Fu admitted. His gaze was a million miles away.

“Thank you for helping us, Mater Fu.” Marinette said, bowing her head.

“I’ll make this right, I promise.” Nathanael added, pressing his fists into his thighs. The peacock miraculous had some bad energy around it, and he was going to make sure that neither of his friends got hurt because of his mistake.

“Good luck, heroes.” Master Fu said, the ghost of a smile on his face.

Marinette and Nathanael stood up and moved to stand beside Adrien.

“Goodbye Wayzz.” Tikki said, flying into Marinette’s bag.

Plagg gave Wayzz a salute and flew into Adrien’s pocket, mumbling something about taking a nap.

“It’s – well, it’s good to have you back.” Wayzz told Yishu, not looking at her.

“How brave of you, that must have been hard to say.” Yishu teased.

Wayzz scoffed. “Extremely.”

Yishu smiled and flew up to rest on Nathanael’s head. Snuggling deep into his hair until she was barely visible.

“For the record, I actually like the Hawaiian shirts.” Nathanael said. Master Fu smiled. With that the three heroes walked out of his shop and stopped on the sidewalk.

Nathanael felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

_Lila: Hey I was wondering if we could hang out now? My parents want me home early today for some family bonding._

“Shoot, Lila wants to hang out now.” Nathanael said, looking up at Marinette and Adrien. “Is it alright –?”

“Of course. Go see her. I can walk Adrien to practice.” Marinette said, a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Is that okay with you, Adrien?” Nathanael asked, trying not to smirk.

Adrien swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Um, y-yeah.” He stuttered out. Then he took a deep breath and relaxed a little. “Don’t get into too much trouble.” He said, giving Nathanael a wink.

“I never do.” He replied, thinking about all of the times he had indeed thrown himself right in the middle of trouble. He sent Lila a quick text saying he was on his way to pick her up. “Okay Yishu, you know the drill.”

Yishu sighed from her spot on his head. “But I am so comfortable.”

“But it’ll be very _uncomfortable_ if I have to explain to Lila why I have a magical fox god sleeping in my hair.” Nathanael pointed out.

Yishu sighed again and floated out of his hair and into his inside shirt pocket.

“Thanks, Yishu.” Nathanael said, smiling down at his kwami. She smiled back. Then he looked up at his friends. “See you guys later.”

“Bye Nath!” Marinette said, and Nathanael waved his arm as he hurried down the street.

“Shall we be off, my lady?” Nathanael heard Adrien ask. Marinette giggled.

“Yes, we shall.”

 

 

When Nathanael knocked on the door to Lila’s house, he wasn’t expecting a huge man with a thousand-watt smile and an impressive mustache to answer.

“Benvenuto!” The man said, giving him a kiss on both cheeks. Once Nathanael got over his initial surprise, he realized that he had seen this man before, on the news.

“M-monsieur Rossi.” Nathanael said, watching as the man pulled away from Nathanael to stand to his full height.

“Please, call me Luca.” He said, holding up his hand. “So you’re the piccolo pomodoro that my daughter has told me so much about.”

“Piccolo pomo…doro?” Nathanael said to himself as he shook Luca’s hand.

“Papà. cosa fai?” Lila’s voice said from inside the house.

Suddenly a woman who looked a lot like Lila came to stand next to Lila’s father in the doorway. “La mia stellina! Il tuo ragazzo è così bello!” She cooed.

“Mamma!” Lila yelled, sounding embarrassed although Nathanael had no idea why. Then he watched as she pushed her parents to the side and stood in front of them. She looked a little flustered. “Hey, Nathanael.”

Nathanael rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. “Hey, Lila.”

She moved to grab his hand. “Let’s go. And don’t worry Mamma, Papá, I won’t be gone for too long.” She began to lead Nathanael away from the house and down the sidewalk.

“It was nice meeting you both!” Nathanael called, waving goodbye with his free arm.

Lila’s mom smiled and put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “It was nice to meet you too, Nathanael.”

“Your parents seem nice.” Nathanael said, still looking at Lila’s house. It was white and covered in ivy. He noticed there were fresh flowers in the windowsill.

“Yeah, they are.” Lila said. Nathanael glanced at her and saw that she was smiling to herself, a slight blush in her cheeks. Then she caught Nathanael looking at her and moved faster. “Follow me.”

Nathanael laughed and looked at his hand, which Lila was dragging along. “Like I have much of a choice.”

Lila smirked. “You can trust me.”

“I know I can.” He replied, letting Lila lead the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already know where I'm taking the next two chapters, so hopefully I'll have time to write them in the near future.
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter!


	7. Come Fly With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these update aren't very frequent. I wish I could post more frequently but I've come to accept that I don't have as much time as I used to. A majority of my writing time is dedicated to the book that I hope to publish one day. Bottom line is that I still intend to continue this story, but I have to go at my own pace. 
> 
> For those of you who are still reading, I want to make sure that you know how happy that makes me. This story will always be important to me. 
> 
> I hope you are all having a wonderful day, lovely readers <3

There was one place in particular that Lila had missed while she was away, and she’d been itching to go back ever since she returned.

“Come on, we’re almost there.” Lila urged, squeezing Nathanael’s hand as she led him down the sidewalk, passing the small pâtisseries and gift shops on their left.

“Are you sure my eyes should be closed?” Nathanael asked, taking cautious steps as his free hand covered his eyes.

“Don’t you trust me?” Lila asked, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

She watched the dopey grin spread across his face. “Always.”

Lila felt a warmth in her chest and then she stopped, careful not to get in the way of the other pedestrians. “Here we are. You can open your eyes.”

Nathanael opened his eyes and Lila watched as he looked at the Ponts de Artes bridge. There was a fond smile on his face. “This is where my parents went on their first date.” He said, adjusting the strap on his bag.

“I always knew it was a special place.” Lila said, smiling. Then she led him onto the bridge, stopping somewhere in the middle. She put her free hand on one of the streetlamps and breathed in the air. The sky was an endless blue.

“You should’ve seen it before they took down all the locks.” Nathanael said, looking towards the oppostive end of the bridge. “It was amazing.”

“Did you parents have their own lock?” Lila asked, turning to look at him. Their faces were only inches apart, the space between them their own world.

Nathanael laughed, some of his hair falling in his face. “They tried, but my dad dropped it as they were trying to put in on and it fell into the river.”

Lila giggled behind her hand. “I feel like that’s got to be bad luck.”

Nathanael shrugged. “That’s what my dad was worried about, but I’ve never seen two people so in love.”

Lila smiled to herself, looking out at the water, seeing where it caught the sunlight.

“They really like you.” Nathanael said. Lila scoffed. “I’m serious.” he insisted, nudging her shoulder with his own.

Lila remembered the first time she met his parents. She had to explain how it wasn’t really Nathanael that she threw off of the roof, it wasn’t really even her, for that matter. It was not the kind of first impression she was hoping to make, but they seemed like understanding people.

“If you say so.” Lila said. After a moment she looked at Nathanael, and saw that he was already looking at her. “I believe you.” she said with more certainty. “My parents loved you before they even met you, for the record.” She watched the red in Nathanael’s cheeks darken as he hid behind a lock of hair. Lila laughed and gently tucked his hair behind his ear. “You did save me, after all.”

“That was Renard, not me.” Nathanael protested. “I was at home.”

“No, you _were_ with me.” Lila insisted, putting a hand on her chest. “You made me feel like I wasn’t alone.”

Nathanael looked at her fondly for a moment, and then he leaned in to kiss her. Lila’s heart fluttered like it always did right before they kissed, like the sky was filling up her chest.

“Ah! Two lovebirds I see!” A voice said. Lila and Nathanael pulled apart in surprise. They turned around and saw a man with a wide smile, standing behind an ice cream cart a few feet further down the bridge. “Such a beautiful couple, please let me offer you some free ice cream!”

Lila looked at Nathanael, and then she shrugged her shoulders. “What kind of person says no to free ice cream, right?”

“Hawkmoth probably does.” Nathanael said, and Lila laughed and nodded her head.

“Well we definitely aren’t villians,” she said. They walked up to the ice cream cart, and the man smiled even wider.

“I’m André and my ice cream causes people to fall in love,” he stated with a flourish of his hand. Nathanael looked at Lila and raised his brow, and she hid her smile behind her hand.

“For the lovely lady,” André began, and then he looked at her thougtfully for a moment. A moment later his eyes lit up and he pulled out a cone. “For you I have orange creamsicle and cherry.” He added two scoops and put a tiny spoon on top. Lila held up her ice cream in front of Nathanael and looked at them both.

“It captures your tomato head perfectly.” She teased. Nathanael rolled his eyes and grinned back.

“And for you young man,” André began. “I have my special blue mint chip ice cream and chocolate.”

Nathanael looked at it thoughtfully, glancing at Lila. “I wonder where the blue came from.”

Lila resisted the urge to touch the brooch that was fastened to the inside of her jacket pocket. “Maybe it’s the color of my aura,” she offered.

Nathanael shrugged, content with her response. “Thanks André. Are you sure you don’t want us to pay?”

André clasped his hands together and smiled. “Seeing true love is the only payment I need. Enjoy your date.”

Lila tried not to blush at the words ‘true love’ and looked over at Nathanael, whose cheeks were bright red. She felt a rush of affection - he always wore his feelings on his sleeve. He couldn’t help it. She grabbed his hand and smiled. “Have a nice day,” she told André as they walked further down the bridge to sit on one of the benches. She thought she heard André let out a contented sigh.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying the water and looking out on the river, just enjoying each other’s company. It was comfortable and easy and all that Lila needed. Just to sit here with Nathanael made her feel so much less out of place than she did anywhere else. There were no reporters, no Parisian citizens who still saw her as Volpina, no classmates who didn’t quite trust her - it was just Nathanael, painting pictures in his head, his gaze a million miles away. He was one of the only people that Lila knew who saw what really mattered. People too often got caught up in the little, unimportant, superficial things. The lies, the fluff, the masks. He didn’t.

Lila finished her ice cream and opened her bag, rifling through it. Finally she pulled out her blue notebook, the one that Renard gave her before she left Paris. She looked at it for a moment, thinking about the fox-themed superhero. She didn’t understand Renard. First he saves her from that creepy man who was following her, then he tricks her into thinking that she threw her crush off of the Arc de Triomphe, then he comes by her house and gives her a farewell gift, and _then_ she sees a vision of him helping Hawkmoth. All that she knew for sure was that she really didn’t trust him. But that wasn’t important right now.

“I’ve been writing again.” Lila finally said, looking up at Nathanael, who was looking at her notebook before he quickly glanced back up at her.

Nathanael smiled and finished his ice cream as well. “I’m happy for you Lila. What have you been writing about?”

Lila shifted closer to him on the bench. Then she opened the notebook and began to flip through the pages. “I’ve mostly been writing journal entries to myself, about Italy, about Paris, about the people I’ve met.” she glanced at Nathanael. “Mostly I’ve been writing about what I want to do, who I want to be. I guess I’ve been thinking about the future a lot.”

She felt Nathanael’s hand cover her own. “You sound happy.”

Lila thought for a moment. “I am happy. Things look, I don’t know, clearer to me now.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Then Nathanael leaned over to open his own bag. “Since we’re sharing, I’ve actually been drawing a lot more, almost as much as I used to.”

“Really?” Lila asked excitedly, looking at his old black notebook. It was odd, art was such a big part of Nathanael’s identity, and yet when Lila met him he wasn’t creating anything. He refused to, even though it was what he loved. Lila was sad that she never got to see that part of him, a part that was obviously very important. But now he was showing her.

“It’s just a sketch, but I hope to paint it one day.” Nathanael said, flipping open the notebook to a particular page. Lila’s eyes widened when she looked at it. The page was divided into two parts - one part was a blue sky with the sun and some clouds, but as her eyes moved across the page the clouds slowly turned into stars and the page became darker. At the other end was a sliver of the moon. It looked like the two sides of the sky were blending into one another, distinct yet the same.

“Wow.” she breathed. “Nathanael, this is really good.”

“I don’t really know what it means, it just kind of came to me, I guess.” Nathanael said, his hair falling into his eyes. Lila pushed a lock of it behind his ear.

“I think it can mean a lot of things.” Lila said, turning to the next page.

“Oh, um, I didn’t -” Nathanael said, reaching out his hands and then pulling them back. Lila looked at the page and her eyes widened.

“Is this...me?” she asked. It certainly looked like her, sitting at her desk with a faraway expression, obviously lost in thought. She looked - well, she looked beautiful.

Is this how Nathanael saw her?

“Sorry, I guess this is kind of weird, it’s just that I missed you and -”

Lila grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss, feeling the warmth on his cheeks. He moved to cup her face. Lila pulled back a moment later, and saw the dazed and happy look on his face. She giggled behind her hand.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “You’re an amazing artist, Nathanael.”

Nathanael looked down bashfully. “And you’re a great writer Lila.” While she was away they decided that text messages didn’t feel quite right and decided to email each other. She would write him long letters about what she was doing that day and he would tell her what he’s been up to with their classmates. It was more intimate than a text, more personal. And Lila always felt more at ease explaining what was on her mind to a computer screen.

Lila twisted her long hair between her hands. “Maybe we can collaborate sometime?” she said with a smile, nudging his shoulder. “We could tell the story about Paris and all of the horribly dressed villians and goofy heroes.”

“You think the heroes are goofy?” Nathanael asked, sounding amused.“Just a little bit, but it’s endearing. It makes them seem more human.” Lila admitted. Working with Paris’ heroes to defeat the akuma helped her understand a little better that they were people just like her, trying to do the right thing. Or at least she hoped that they were all doing the right thing. She still couldn’t get that vision out of her head.

“Yeah, they’re just like us.” Nathanael said quietly, looking out at the water. He seemed to be frowning a little.

Lila put her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I have to be honest, I’m looking forward to the day when Hawkmoth isn’t around anymore. Then we can all breathe again.”

“I know what you mean.” Nathanael said. And Lila knew that he did.

 

 

Lila wanted to learn how to fly.

She wasn’t quite sure how she did it when she ran away from Renard, but she thought it would be helpful if she figured it out before there was another akuma.

She took a deep breath as she looked at the skyline. It was nighttime, and there was a nice breeze, one that smelled like summer. She walked carefully to the edge of the building she was standing on, and looked down at the alley.

It was only two stories, but she felt like she was way higher.

Lila felt something twist in her stomach as she quickly stepped away from the edge. “Why am I doing this?” she asked herself, looking up at the stars and clenching her fists nervously, trying to summon her courage. She tapped her fan against her thigh, trying to remember how she did this last time.

But she had no idea how she did it last time. She just knew that she needed to get away.

“Okay Lila, you’re going to run across this rooftop and jump. It’ll be fine.” she said to herself, nodding her head. “If you want to fly you need to jump.” She looked at the building not too far from her. “On three,” she said, bending her knees a little. “One -” she wondered if she was even supposed to bend her knees for something like this. “Two -” maybe the whole flying thing was a one time kind of deal. Maybe it was a fluke. She tried to remember if real peacocks could even fly. “Three!” She decided to leave her worries behind as she ran towards the edge of the building, never tearing her eyes away from what was ahead of her. She leapt off of the building and could feel herself getting lighter as she flew through the air. Her eyes widened as she took in the darkened city before her, and then she began to laugh.

“This is amazing!” she yelled, flying over the building she planned to land on and gliding through the air. The whole city was there in front of her. She took a risk, she put her faith in magic, in this city, and now she was actually flying. She never realized that there could be power in vulnerability. Then she noticed a familar roof in the distance. As she got closer, the wind whipping around her, she realized that it was Nathanael’s roof. She remembered the first time she sat up there with him. She remembered the view, his expression when she told him that she had to leave, the moment when he leaned in to kiss her for the first time -

She realized that she wasn’t gliding through the air anymore - she was falling. She watched with wide eyes as the ground was getting closer.

“No no no no no no.” Lila said to herself, shutting her eyes and trying to will her body to fly again. But it wasn’t working. Panic had a firm grip on her lungs as she waved her limbs wildly.

Then she hit the ground. The air was knocked out of her, but to her surprise she realized that she was okay.

“Okay, that happened.” Lila groaned, moving to sit up on her elbows. As she moved to get up she realized that the ground wasn’t flat. Actually, it wasn’t even the ground at all.

Lila put her hand on her forehead and sighed. Of course she would end up on Nathanael’s roof. She was just lucky that he wasn’t out here tonight. She didn’t know what she would do if Nathanael ever met Blu. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she also didn’t know if it would be better to tell him who she was. Either way it would be a mess.

Lila moved to stand up, making sure she hadn’t crushed her fan during the landing, even though she was pretty sure that it was indestructible. Then she looked down at the street.

Now how was she going to get down?

She tried to see if she could get that light, floaty feeling again, but nothing happened. She knew that Nathanael’s window was right under her, but she didn’t know if she should risk it. Having Nathanael see Blu during an akuma attack was something she could handle, but Nathanael waking up to see Blu sneaking across his room could not happen.

Then the roof decided for her. One of the shingles came loose and Lila slipped and fell.

“Oh, come on!” she yelled, falling through the air. Suddenly she felt branches poking into her costume.

She had fallen in the Kurtzberg’s bush. Lila laid there for a moment and looked at the stars, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. “Ow.” she said, looking at the sky in disbelief. This was not how she planned for her night to go. She thought being a superhero would make her cooler. Obviously she had a lot to learn. Then she had the feeling that something was watching her. She glanced over to the street and saw a shadowy figure. Some _one_. The figure moved forward into the light of the nearest streetlamp, a confused expression on his face.

“Um,” Nathanael said, clutching his sketchbook to his chest, “did you just fall off of my roof?”

Lila groaned and looked back up at the sky. This was really not how she planned for her night to go. She lifted herself out of the bush and came to stand in front of Nathanael, staying out of the light of the streetlamp.

“Wait, you’re that new, uh, hero, aren’t you?” Nathanael asked. Lila noticed him tense a little. She also noticed how he hesitated on the word ‘hero’.

Lila put her fan in front of her face, only showing her eyes. “Um, kind of,” she said, mentally smacking her forehead.

Nathanael nodded his head. “What were you doing in my bush?”

“I was, um, patrolling, you know, like the other heroes do. Have to keep the streets of Paris safe.” Lila said. She was wondering when she had become such a bad liar. Then she sighed and slumped her shoulders, snapping her fan shut and dropping her arm. “I was trying to fly.”

“Trying?” Nathanael asked. She was getting the feeling that he was a little amused by all of this. Lila crossed her arms.

“It’s not easy. Can _you_ fly?”

“No.” Nathanael admitted, and he seemed a little annoyed by that fact. Lila thought that she heard a noise coming from his bag and he began to cough.

“Well, it’s hard and I’m going to go now, sorry about your bush, and your roof -” Lila began, turning to leave.

“Wait what did you do to my roof?” Nathanael asked, looking upwards. There was an adorable whine in his voice.

Lila felt the urge to lie again, but she realized that she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “It’s not bad.” she eventually said, moving to walk past him. “Have a good night! Stay safe -”

“Wait.” Nathanael said, gently grabbing Lila’s arm. Once they made contact Lila’s eyes blew wide. Images sped across her vision, fast and hard to dintinguish. She saw that room full of white butterflies again. She saw vines spreading across everything, blocking the sunlight. She saw Nathanael, calling out Lila’s name as he was being covered in branches and thorns.

“Are you okay?” Nathanael asked, taking his hand away from her arm as she took a few steps back. She looked up at his face. She could see the branches surrounding him. She could hear the panic in his voice.

“I-I have to go.” she said, still looking at him with wide eyes. She turned to leave, but then she moved back to grab his hand. “Stay away from the branches.”

“The what -?” Nathanael began to ask, but Lila was already running down the street and into the next alley. She jumped on top of a garbage can and flew into the air, landing lightly on the roof of a nearby building. She realized now how this power worked. She needed to be looking forward in time, not backward. She couldn’t fly if she was stuck thinking about the past. Thankfully she was able to fly home without any problems.

Because all that was on her mind was the future, about her vision, about Nathanael being in danger.  

She refused to let that happen.


End file.
